


Who Owns Spencer Reid

by TobiasHankel



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, BAMF Spencer Reid, Bottom Spencer Reid, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Diana Reid is dead, Dubious Consent, Forced Feminization, Gen, Handcuffs, Human Trafficking, Hurt Spencer Reid, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Oblivious Spencer Reid, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Aaron Hotchner, Recovery, Scars, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, Submission, Team as Family, Victim Reid, Worried Derek Morgan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:26:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 23
Words: 83,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25156957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TobiasHankel/pseuds/TobiasHankel
Summary: The BAU team, Hotch, Morgan, Emily, JJ, Garcia, and Rossi, are asked by the Domestic Trafficking Task Force to assist in a case after a young man who was the victim of human trafficking for thirteen years is located and refuses to speak. The only problem is that the team quickly develops a soft spot for the young man named Spencer Reid.Trigger Warning: This fic contains talk of rape, murder, torture, human trafficking, and other sensitive topics in almost every chapter. Please read responsibly.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 762
Kudos: 1328





	1. Speak

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea that I couldn't shake so here we are.
> 
> This fic contains talk of rape, murder, torture, human trafficking, and other sensitive topics in almost every chapter. Please read responsibly. I will try and add warnings on chapters with more graphic, detailed sections.

The BAU team gathered around the conference room table like they did every morning but today Hotch was standing by the screen instead of JJ. She was sitting down as the team, Morgan, Garcia, Emily, and Rossi shuffled in. “Ahh looks like Hotch is doing the presenting today,” Morgan said with a laugh as he sat down next to JJ.

Hotch just glared in return. Once everyone sat down and was situated, Hotch started. “We have an unusual one today that was sent to us from the Head of Domestic Trafficking Task Force, SSA Andi Swann. They have been cracking down on wealthy Americans that have been rumored to buy and sell humans. Yesterday they raided the house of Maximillian Alexander. He was killed during the takedown, but his estate was full of evidence of human trafficking, including three dead victims.”

“That is horrible but why are we being called in? Sounds like they have everything covered.” Emily asked

Hotch looked towards the blank screen and said, “He is why,” before clicking a button on the remote causing a picture of a young man to show up on the screen. “Spencer Reid.”

The team looked at the picture of the young man sitting cross-legged on a hospital bed. He was tall, pale, and thin. He was dressed in only a hospital gown, which was untied and hanging off of his shoulders. His hair went halfway down his back in gorgeous flowing waves of golden-brown. He had light bruising around his wrists, ankles, and neck but he looked well cared for, not like the typical human trafficking survivors the team had seen before. He was looking at his lap, but his face could still be seen. For a lack of better words, he was beautiful. Sharp cheekbones and a strong jawline. He didn’t look like a victim at all, he looked like a model.

“Wowww, he is a cutie” Garcia said shooting Emily and JJ a smile.

“I don’t understand.. Was he an accomplice?” JJ asked

Emily shook her head, “No way. He looks like a teenager.”

Hotch clicked the remote again and the screen flicked on to a different picture. An “M” with a line through it that was branded into the sole of a pale foot. “Spencer Reid was the only surviving victim they found at the estate. This brand was also found on him as well as the deceased victims. He is 25 years old and the last known record we have is when he graduated high school at only 12 years old.”

Morgan looked shocked, “Hold up, 12?” Hotch just nodded and clicked the remote, showing a small boy in a graduation cap and gown.

“Awww he is even cuter as a kid!” Garcia swooned.

“Apparently he is a genius with an IQ of 187 and was even accepted into Cal-Tech with multiple scholarships,” Hotch said, looking over the photo of the small boy on the screen being swallowed up by his graduation gown.

“I am sensing a ‘but’,” Rossi said raising his eyebrows.

Hotch sighed, “But, his father left when he was 10 and his mother was a paranoid schizophrenic who killed herself when Spencer was 11. He lied to the school and said his father was still living at home, but he wasn’t. Somehow he took care of himself until he was caught shortly after graduating high school. Someone at Caltech thought something was off so they called CPS. He was put into the foster care system when his father couldn’t be found and that is where he was lost.”

Garcia gasped, “What? How does that even happen?”

“They fall through the cracks, baby girl. People take advantage of these kids and a poorly funded system.” Morgan said, looking upset as well.

“I am sorry; that really is terrible, but I still don’t see how we can help,” Emily said

Hotch sighed again, “Spencer won’t talk. He isn’t even acknowledging other people. They had to sedate him just to get fingerprints and dental imprints to figure out who he is. He is screaming and attacking others when touched and with his family history of mental illness, the hospital is about to send him to a long-term mental health facility. Besides the fact that this young man most likely holds valuable information about the human trafficking ring, he is very bright and has had part of his life stolen from him. We can’t just sit by and let them throw him into an asylum when we know he is just reacting to his trauma.”

Everyone nodded their head in agreement, but Morgan spoke up, “I get it, man. This kid needs help but the whole team just for one kid?”

“We are also going to join SSA Andi Swann’s team in their investigation. Spencer was most likely owned by a range of human traffickers and they will need help profiling these people. Garcia, I want you to look more into Spencer Reid’s past. Find out if he has any family members and see if you can track down where in the foster care system he got lost at. Emily and Rossi, you will go ahead and join Swann’s team while the rest of us go to see Spencer in the hospital. Let’s go.” Hotch said, standing up, grabbing his things, and heading to his office.

“Wait, when is wheels up?” Morgan asked, looking at JJ.

“Ohh, sorry. Spencer Reid is at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, so we are just driving. It’s only like 30 minutes away.” JJ said

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JJ was right, they arrived at the hospital almost exactly 30 minutes after leaving the BAU. They quickly found the floor Spencer was staying on and ran into Agent Swann as she left his hospital room. “Oh, hey Hotch!” she said when she spotted the three BAU agents.

Hotch reached forward and shook her hand, “Nice to see you again Swann. This is Agent Jareau and Agent Morgan.”

Morgan shook her hand next, followed by JJ. “Nice to meet you, Swann, I have heard great things about your unit. You can just call me JJ if you like.”

“Morgan, JJ, Nice to meet you both. Do you guys think you will have luck with him?” Swann asked, gesturing to the window of the room she had just left. They could see Spencer sitting on his hospital bed. He seemed totally calm, oblivious even. He looked completely tuned out to the world around him as he ran his hands together and apart or fidgeted with the gown he was wearing, which was still falling off of his lithe body. Morgan couldn’t help but think that he looked even more beautiful in person.

“We are going to try. Does he seem fearful?” Hotch asked Swann.

“Not at all, which makes it even weirder. It is like we aren’t even there. He only reacts when touched but he has yet to talk. They aren’t sure if he can hear or speak.” She explained before her phone rang. She pulled it out and looked at who was calling, “I have to take this. You guys keep me up to date, okay? Thanks.” She said already walking away and answering her phone.

Before they entered the room, Morgan stopped. “Two Alpha personality men might be too much.”

Hotch thought for a moment, “You have a point, but I don’t think it will matter.”

JJ looked confused, “Why?”

“We are pointless to him. We aren’t Maximillian Alexander. Spencer was probably in some type of Master/Slave relationship in which everyone except for his master, or people that his master allowed, weren’t important. Like an extension to subspace. We have to remember that Spencer has been missing for 13 years. He might have been a sex slave the whole time, but we only know that he was treated like a sex slave when he was with Maximillian. We still don’t even know how long he was at his estate.” Hotch explained.

“Wait, how do they know he was a sex slave if he isn’t talking? Were they able to do a full checkup?” Morgan asked.

“They looked him over slightly while he was sedated, but they can assume he was a sex slave because of where he was found.” Hotch looked at JJ and Morgan’s confused and explained further, “He was completely naked except for a collar that was leashed to the wall of a room that could only be described as a sex dungeon...”

“Shit.. poor kid,” Morgan said and JJ led the way into the room.

Swann wasn’t lying, Spencer didn’t even react to the door opening or the three agents walking inside the room. “Spencer, my name is JJ. These are my friends, Derek, and Aaron.” JJ said quietly, gesturing to the two men, as they were all moving to chairs near Spencer’s bed. “We would like to ask you a few questions, is that okay?”

Spencer just stayed spaced out. He stared at his hands as he wiggled his fingers together than apart. He pulled his legs up to his chest and danced his fingers on his knees. He seemed content with the small actions, as if he had spent long amounts of time alone with nothing to do before. Morgan noticed that when Spencer brought his knees to his chest, his gown rose as well, exposing his butt. Morgan quickly looked away, “Kid, would you like a blanket? Or maybe I can get them to get some pants or something.” Morgan said but again nothing.

JJ tried again, “Spence, is it okay if I call you that?” JJ waited but there was no reaction, so she kept going, “We need you to tell us about your time with Maximillian.”

The three profilers noticed the smallest twitch of Spencer’s eyebrow when Maximillian’s name was mentioned so Hotch tried something different, “Spencer, Maximillian Alexander is dead.” This time Spencer looked up at Hotch. His face was a mix of sadness and confusion before looking back down at his lap. Swann’s team purposely didn’t mention Maximillian’s death as they felt it would upset Spencer too greatly. Hotch knew better. This was the same boy that continued living on his own and graduated high school at 12 after his mother died. He was strong.

Hotch continued, “He tried to attack one of the FBI agents that tried to arrest him and he was shot. Do you remember hearing the gunfire when you were found?” Spencer’s face didn’t hold the same oblivious expression, instead, he looked deep in thought.

Hotch looked over at JJ and Morgan and gave them a look, as if to tell him not to interrupt what he was about to do. Hotch reached into his case file and pulled out an enlarged photo of a dead man with a gunshot wound in his head. He had short black hair, olive skin, and was tall and well build. Hotch moved the photo over in front of Spencer’s knees, in front of his field of vision, careful not to touch him. “Are you happy he is dead?” Hotch asked, holding the photo.

Spencer’s eyes grew wide as he focused on the photo. Silently, tears started to run down his cheeks, and he turned to Hotch. His mouth opened as if he were going to speak but he closed it again and his chin trembled.

Hotch didn’t stop, he wanted to provoke emotions in Spencer to snap him back to reality. He put the photo of Maximillian back in the folder and pulled out a photo of three dead women, naked, covered in blood, and laying in a small pile. He placed it in front of Spencer like he did the other one. “Did you know he murdered three women that were staying at his estate as well? They were all marked with the same mark you have on your right foot.”

To everyone’s surprise, Spencer moved his long, slender fingers to touch the hair on one of the bodies in the photo. “Did you know her Spence? Can you tell us her name?” JJ asked in a soft voice. But Spencer just continued to silently cry. He didn’t even bother to wipe his own face.

Morgan reached over to the side table and took a tissue, handing it out to Spencer, “Here, kid.” Spencer didn’t seem to hear Morgan’s words. So, he tried again, “Kid, take it.” Immediately Spencer looked at Morgan with wide eyes and did what he said. Morgan was internally cursing himself. _Shit. Of course. He hasn’t done anything we want because we are just asking, not telling. He probably has been trained to only do as he is told._ He thought before looking over at Hotch, who noticed it too. Morgan decided to try it again, “Wipe your face.” He said, trying to keep the command from sounding too demanding.

Again, Spencer did just as he was told.

It broke JJ’s heart to see this young man acting so powerless, “Spencer, you know you can do things without being told right? You aren’t controlled by anyone anymore.”

Spencer didn’t react to her again so Hotch thought he would try something, “Speak. Answer her.”

Suddenly Spencer looked terrified. The thought that he might not be able to even speak ran through Morgan’s mind before they heard a small voice come from Spencer, “He.. He said… I am not allowed to talk…” His voice was small, shaken, and child-like but it made Morgan smile.

“You are allowed to talk freely now. Maximillian’s orders don’t matter anymore, okay?” Morgan said with a smile.

Spencer eyed Morgan, looking him up and down. “Are you my new owner?” he asked before flinching, as if he was fully expecting to be hit for asking a question.

Morgan tried to hide his shocked expression. “No, kid. You aren’t owned by anyone anymore and you can ask as many questions as you want.”

Spencer stared at Morgan, he looked utterly devastated. “You… don’t want me…” Spencer creaked out. His voice was hoarse, most likely from nonuse. He curled himself into a ball, knees tightly against his chest and arms wrapped around his legs, and started to cry again, burying his head into his knees. In doing so, his hospital gown fell forward, exposing more of his alabaster skin on his back, legs, and hips. He clearly didn’t care though, and Morgan tried hard not to look.

Morgan looked over at Hotch and mouthed, “What do I do?” Hotch motioned for Morgan to follow him to the hallway. As they were leaving they could hear JJ trying to comfort the boy.

“I thought he would be happy to hear that he wasn’t anyone’s property anymore,” Morgan told Hotch once they were in the hall.

“That might be true for a human trafficking victim that was rescued after a few years, but Spencer has been someone else’s property for 13 years. Human trafficking victims normally don’t even last that long before they are killed.” Hotch said, watching Spencer cry on the bed from the window in the hallway.

“How the hell is he even supposed to have a life? You saw, he wasn’t talking to us just because he was told not to speak by someone that is dead. The only thing he has done without being told is cry.” Morgan said, visibly upset.

Hotch huffed, “I don’t know.. Right now, he is in the care of the FBI and BAU so that is what we will tell him. He needs to be phased into a normal life. He might not even remember what it is like to not obey everything he is told..”

“So… We are telling him that he is basically owned by the BAU? That WE own him?”

“Yes. He is in our custody so it’s not a lie.” Hotch said, pulling out his cell phone.

“What about when he is released from the hospital. He won’t be in our custody forever.” Morgan said.

“Unless Garcia can find his father and he is willing to take him in, which I highly doubt, then he will go to a nursing home or asylum..” Hotch said, looking somber. It was clear that the young Spencer Reid was having an effect on the stoic unit chief. “I am not sure what is going to happen. I just want to see him recover from this. He had such a bright future before this and if telling him a little lie will help then that is what we will have to do.”

Morgan just shook his head, “I get it, but I don’t know man..”

“Agent Swann told me when she requested our help that she had never seen a human trafficking victim that was kept for so long with so little scars and wounds. Most are broken in by physical force, but Spencer’s story must be different. He is submissive without physical force. That means he was most likely psychologically broken in. He needs to be treated with care.” Hotch said dialing a number on his phone. “Go tell him he is ours for now, I have to update Swann.”

Morgan ran his hands over his shaven head. He hated this idea. He fully understood Hotch’s reasoning and agreed with it, but he didn’t have to like it. He slowly opened the door to Spencer’s hospital room and was met with the small whimper and sniffles of Spencer, who was still crying. JJ had moved her chair as close as she could to the bed without touching it or Spencer. She was saying soothing words, but they fell on deaf ears.

Morgan walked next to the bed and sighed, “Hey kid, change of plans. You are now.. owned.. by the BAU.” Morgan didn’t want to say that they owned him, but he needed to use a term that Spencer would understand. Spencer’s head shot up in shock. “This is just temporary but our team, JJ, Aaron, me, and two others you haven’t met yet will be taking care of you for now, okay?”

Spencer uncurled himself and just stared at Morgan and JJ in amazement. “I—I am yours?” Spencer asked. His voice sounded hopeful instead of scared.

“We will be taking care of you for now, yes,” Morgan said, smiling when his words made Spencer smile for the first time since they had met.

Spencer moved his hands around in front of himself as if he wanted to do something but couldn’t. “What is it?” Morgan asked.

Spencer looked at Morgan with pleading eyes, “I—I… Uhh..”

JJ realized what was happening, “Spence, you can speak freely with us, remember? You will never get in trouble for speaking with us.”

“Really?” Spencer asked, once again shocked. Morgan and JJ both nodded their heads. “Can… Can I give you – uhh – a hug?” He asked, sounding impossibly cute and child-like.

“Of course, Pretty Boy” Morgan said, even though he didn’t understand why that nickname came out of his mouth. Spencer carefully stood up, moving slowly and deliberately. His gown was completely open in the back, exposing his full behind. He threw his arms over JJ first, leaning down to her in the chair. Morgan couldn’t help but stare at his body. How his long hair laid on his back or how he had back dimples right above his perfectly shaped butt. Then Spencer hugged Morgan, arms going around his neck, he pushed his body fully against Morgan.

Morgan felt butterflies in his stomach, felt his heart skip a beat. He could feel himself falling for this young man.

_Fuck.. I am in trouble.._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So before anyone says it, I noticed after I wrote the first chapter that it does bear some similarities to Practice And Procedure by orphan_account, which was honestly an accident. Either way, my bad.  
> What do you all think? Worth continuing?  
> Please leave kudos, comments, and subs!


	2. Twisted Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger: Talk about rape, human trafficking, and murder.

Spencer climbed back into bed after giving the two profilers hugs. He was smiling slightly to himself and whispering, “Thank you. Thank you so much.” He looked genuinely happy. Morgan and JJ shared a look. She didn’t understand what was going on, but she was going to go along with it for now.

“There is no reason to thank us, Spence,” JJ said back.

A few minutes later Hotch came back in the room and Spencer gave him a smile and opened his mouth to talk but shut it again before looking at Morgan as if he were asking permission. “Spencer, you are free to speak. We prefer it if you did.”

Spencer nodded before looking back at Hotch, “Thank you, Master Aaron. I am sure I will please you.” He said eagerly.

“Just Aaron, please. Or Hotch.” Hotch said, sitting down in the chair and turning to JJ and Morgan. “I just got off the phone with Swann. She wants to sit in when we question him and asked for us not to start yet.” Morgan and JJ nod.

Spencer watches the interaction and can tell that Hotch is stressed out over something. “Aaron, would you like a blowjob?”

The three profilers were completely caught off guard. Morgan didn’t know what was more shocking, Spencer’s question or the shocked look on the normally stern unit chief’s face. “I—What?” Hotch stammered out.

“You look stressed. Would you like a blowjob or would you like to fuck me? I probably should shower first as—” Spencer started. He was speaking calmly, as if it were totally normal to offer someone you just met sexual favors.

Hotch cut Spencer off, “Spencer, no.. You don’t have to do that anymore. I know Derek here told you that you are ours for now, but you will not be asked to have sex with any of us, okay?”

Spencer surprisingly looked upset, “I don’t understand.. _He_ said I was only good for sex.. What.. what will you use me for?” A few tears ran down his face.

JJ tried to comfort him, “Oh Spence.. You are good for so—” but Spencer cut her off.

He was starting to panic. “I can be really good!” He said loudly before looking at JJ, “I – uhh.. I have never pleasured a woman before, but I am a fast learner! I know I could be good for you!” JJ tried to cut Spencer off, but he kept going, looking between Morgan and Hotch. “I am very good at pleasuring men! I don’t have a gag reflex anymore and I can take coc—”

“Spencer!” Hotch yelled and Spencer stopped talking immediately. He quickly bowed his head and placed his hands in his lap in a submissive pose. “Look at me, please,” Hotch said gently and waited for Spencer to look up before he continued. “I am glad to hear you talking but you need to relax. You will not be asked to have sex with any of us because we do not want to _use_ you for anything, okay?”

“But… I really don’t understand… I need to be used for something or there is no reason to keep me… I can cook for you.. I have a good memory; I can read fast. I—” Spencer stopped talking, breaking down in sobs. JJ tested the waters by reaching out and grabbing Spencer’s hand. He flinched but welcomed the touch.

Morgan sighed. He hated to see the boy so upset by something as ridiculous as not being used for sex. Then it hit Morgan, _Damnit.. he probably thinks that slaves that have no purpose are sold or killed.. That might be what happened to the women. I wonder how many other victims he knew that were killed for not having a use anymore.._ He thought. “Listen, kid. We will find something for you to do. Right now, we need you to focus on getting better and just doing what we ask of you, okay?”

Spencer looked up at Morgan and sniffed, “I can do that.. Yes. I can follow orders really well, sir.”

“No, no ‘sir’. Just call me Derek or Morgan. We also don’t want you to just follow what we say if you don’t want too. Your opinion is important as well.” Morgan said, giving Spencer a smile. Spencer looked confused, as the thought of sharing his opinion was extremely foreign but he nodded his head anyway.

Once Spencer calmed down, JJ stood up. “I am going to go get the nurse now. They still have to look you over and see what you need.” She said, patting his hand before leaving.

“Are you comfortable with them checking you over now?” Hotch asked

Once again Spencer looked confused, furrowing his brow at the simple question. “Are.. Are they allowed to touch me?”

“They are required to touch you in order to do their job but if you aren’t comfortable with them touching you then we can go slow,” Hotch said

“But do _you allow_ them to touch me? _He_ didn’t allow others to touch me unless _he_ said it was okay, most the time _he_ stayed and watched.” Spencer explained, starting to fidget with his gown again.

Hotch huffed, “Yes, Spencer. We allow them to touch you because they are doctors and nurses and they won’t hurt you.”

Morgan noticed that Spencer still looked a bit uneasy, “Would you feel better if we stayed?”

“Yes, yes please,” Spencer said desperately, jumping a little in his hospital bed.

Morgan couldn’t help but smile at how cute the action was. “Sure thing, Pretty Boy.”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soon there was a doctor and two nurses in the room along with Morgan and Hotch. JJ decided to go check on Emily and Rossi while Spencer was being examined. “Hello Spencer, my name is Dr. Miller. How are you feeling?” a short, stocky and balding man said as he approached the hospital bed where Spencer was sitting.

Spencer just looked over at Morgan and Hotch with quizzical eyes. “Spencer, please answer his questions,” Hotch said when he saw the look on his face.

Spencer took a deep breath, “I am well.” He said quickly.

“Hmm.. does anything hurt?” Dr. Miller asked, taking his stethoscope off from around his neck.

“No, sir. I am not damaged. I can still be used.” Spencer said calmly, like that was a normal thing to say.

The doctor had already been warned about the life Spencer was coming from so he didn’t seem fazed. “That is good. Do you know when you were last seen by a doctor or nurse?”

“23 days” Spencer started before looking at the clock on the wall, “2 hours and 46 minutes ago.”

The doctor chuckled as a nurse wrote down what he said, “That is very specific. Were you sick or was it just a checkup?”

“Checkup. A doctor would come to see me once a month to make sure I wasn’t damaged or diseased.” Spencer said, starting to run his fingers through his long hair that had gotten quite tangled.

Dr. Miller nodded his head, “Okay, that is good. And were you ever.. damaged or diseased?”

“No, sir. Never diseased and rarely damaged. He liked to keep his property well cared for.” Spencer said. Morgan and Hotch shared a look. They weren’t exactly used to dealing with human trafficking victims. Most of their victims were already dead, but the way Spencer was so calm about calling himself property or saying he was still useable was concerning. It made them wonder if Spencer could ever be a functioning member of society.

Even the doctor looked a little upset, “Alright, Spencer. I am going to listen to your chest now. Is that okay?” Dr. Miller said, putting on his stethoscope and getting closer to the bed. Spencer looked back over at Hotch and Morgan before nodding yes. The doctor started his examination, moving the stethoscope around, asking Spencer to take breaths in and out before moving to his back and doing the same thing. “Sounds good.” He said, putting his stethoscope back on and grabbing the otoscope. “I am going to look in your ears now.” The doctor said, moving to look in one, then the other. “Now open up and say ‘ahh’.” Dr. Miller said, holding the otoscope in front of his mouth but this time Spencer froze.

“Kid, everything okay?” Morgan asked, getting a little closer.

Spencer looked scared. He leaned closer to Morgan and whispered, “Is he going to put anything in my mouth?”

“I’ll ask.” Morgan whispered back before looking up at the doctor, “Hey doc, are you going to put anything in his mouth?”

“No. I just need to take a peek at his throat, is that okay Spencer?” The doctors said. Spencer did a small nod and opened his mouth, despite the fear written on his face. “Say ‘ahh’… good. Alright. Thank you.” Dr. Miller said, putting the otoscope back before turning back to Spencer. “Does your throat hurt, Spencer?”

“No,” Spencer answered quickly, avoiding eye contact with the doctor. The doctor huffed and looked at Hotch and Morgan.

Hotch understood the look and said, “Be honest, Spencer.”

Spencer flinched, “I am so sorry!” he said as he started to tear up.

“Shhh.. It’s alright.” Morgan said, moving to the side of the bed opposite the doctor, “You just need to be honest. You aren’t going to get in trouble.”

“Are.. Are you sure, Derek?” Spencer said quietly and Morgan nodded with confidence. “Okay.. My throat hurts a little..”

“Thank you for being honest, Spencer. You have a few bruises in the back of your throat. Do you know where they came from?” Dr. Miller asked, already knowing the answer.

“Daddy can be a bit rough but it’s okay because I am still useable,” Spencer said. The child-like sound of his voice made what he said much worse. An awkward silence fell over the room.

Morgan was confused though. Spencer hadn’t called Maximillian ‘daddy’ before. “Who is ‘daddy’, Spencer?” He asked gently.

“ _His_ friend.”

“Maximillian’s friend?” Morgan asked. His confusion was clear on his face. 

“Mm-hmm. He would come by sometime and fuck my throat. _He_ didn’t let him use my ass though because he was too rough. _He_ didn’t like others damaging his property without permission.” Spencer said without a hint of distress about the upsetting events he was talking about. He sounded almost happy, like he was glad he was of use.

Morgan felt sick but he was still confused, “You said, He didn’t like it. Are you talking about Maximillian?”

“Of course. _He_ is my owner… was my owner I mean…” Spencer said with a hint of sadness. It was clear that he was upset about losing his past owner but Morgan wasn’t going to press the issue or ask why Spencer only referred to Maximillian as ‘he’ instead of a name like he did with this ‘daddy’ person.

“Okay.. Do you remember the friend’s real name?”

“I remember almost everything. I have an eidetic memory.” Spencer said plainly.

Morgan shot a look over at Hotch who had a hint of sadness on his face as well. They knew that if he really did have an eidetic memory then he would be able to give priceless information to Agent Swann but that he would also have to carry his memories for the rest of his life. “Well if I could just get the name of the man that hurt your throat for now.”

“Paul Pratt,” Spencer said with a giggled. Hotch pulled out his cell phone and texted the name to Garcia as Spencer leaned a little closer to Morgan and whispered, “His initials are PP.” before laughing again. Morgan laughed as well. He couldn’t help but notice how, despite what Spencer had gone through and the sexual words he used, he seemed so innocent. Morgan knew it was probably due to being in captivity since he was 12 but he thought it was sweet.

The doctor cleared his throat in order to get the attention back to Spencer’s exam. “We can give you some pain relievers if it is bothering you but other than that, it should heal within a few days. Now,” the doctor reached out for a urine collector cup from the nurse and handed it to Spencer. “I need you to pee in this.” Once the doctor finished, Spencer threw his legs over the side of the bed but instead of standing up he took the cap off the cup and started to lift up his gown. “No, no! In the bathroom, please. Right there.” Dr. Miller said once he noticed Spencer was going to pee right in front of the five other people in the room. He pointed at the bathroom door on the side of the room.

Spencer stood up and went into the bathroom silently. It wasn’t until everyone heard the sound of Spencer peeing that they realized he didn’t bother to shut the door. When he was done he peaked his head out and asked, “Am I allowed to wash my hands?”

“Yes, Spencer.” Hotch quickly replied.

A minute later Spencer came out of the bathroom, still not caring about his completely open gown, and handed the cup to one of the nurses before sitting back on his hospital bed. He kept his legs over the side of the bed that the doctor was at as the doctor checked his reflexes, but Morgan let his eyes wander over the young man’s back. He was surprised at how little scars he had for the life he had been leading. The scars he could see were light, more like blurs in his porcelain white skin. The scars looked like he was hit too roughly with a belt or whip. They were on his lower back and what he could see if his butt, but you wouldn’t notice them unless you were especially looking. They also looked quite old. Morgan was snapped back when Spencer moved to rest back on the inclined bed.

“Now this part of the exam is going to be a bit more invasive. I have a few questions first. Let me know if at any point you feel uncomfortable. First, when was the last time you were raped?” Dr. Miller asked in a softer voice than he had been using.

Spencer shook his head, “I don’t understand. I haven’t been raped..” Spencer said, before his face looked as if he remembered something, “Oh! One year, 3 months, and 24 days ago.”

The doctor looked at the FBI agents, clearly confused. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Mm-hmm. _He_ allowed a man to receive a blowjob from me but once we were alone he forced himself inside my ass instead. I screamed and within a minute _He_ came back in and killed the man. _He_ let me have an ice cream cone that day. It was great.” Spencer said with a smile.

Hotch hid his shock well, “Maximillian killed the man? Did you know the man’s name?” He asked.

“Nope. It was the first and last time I saw him.. Did I answer your question right?” Spencer asked the doctor.

Dr. Miller looked at Hotch for assistance. It was clear that the doctor had never worked with someone like Spencer as well. “Thank you for telling us that Spencer but Dr. Miller is asking when the last time you had penetrative sex.” Hotch reluctantly asked. He didn’t know if the fact that Spencer didn’t understand that what he went through was rape was a good or bad thing.

“Oh, yesterday morning. _He_ enjoys… enjoyed morning sex the most.” Spencer said with the hint of sadness crawling back on to his face.

A nurse wrote down what Spencer said as the doctor continued, “Did he use protection?” Spencer shook his head no. “Lastly, where did he orgasm at?”

“Inside of me,” Spencer said plainly. Morgan cringed at the thought.

“Thank you, Spencer, that was great. Now, this is Amanda, she is going to be conducting the exam on the rest of your body. Is that okay?” Dr. Miller said, gesturing at a nurse that had been waiting behind the doctor holding an evidence collection kit. It was clear to Hotch and Morgan that Amanda was a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, but they understood why the doctor didn’t lead with that.

Spencer looked at Hotch and then up at Morgan but didn’t answer the doctor’s question. “What is it, kid?” Morgan asked.

Again, Spencer leaned over and whispered, “Women aren’t supposed to touch me like that..”

“Is this a rule you were told or is it just something you don’t like?” Morgan whispered back knowing fully well that he didn’t have to whisper and that everyone could still hear them.

“A rule.”

“You don’t follow those rules anymore. You follow ours.” Hotch interjected. He knew Morgan wouldn’t want to say that to him, but it was what needed to be said for Spencer to understand.

Spencer nodded quickly in understanding, “Yes. The woman is allowed to touch me.” He told the doctor.

“Alright. Well, I will leave her to it then. I will be back shortly.” The doctor said, quickly leaving the room but the second nurse stayed.

“Hi Spencer,” Amanda said, setting her kit on a metal rolling tray near the end of the bed. “I need to look at your body and private parts to make sure you are healthy, to record any injuries and take some swabs, is that something you are okay with?” Spencer nodded yes. “Alright. I am going to start with your arms. If I see a scar or injury, are you able to tell me where you got it from?” Spencer nodded again. He seemed uncomfortable but not scared.

The nurse started with his arms, moving them around. She pointed at a cluster of small bruises and Spencer quickly answered where they were from, “ _He_ grabbed me too hard,” and the second nurse wrote down what he said. Next, she asked about the bruises around his wrists, “My leather handcuffs.” Then a few old scars on his wrists, “Metal handcuffs” Then the bruises on his neck. “My collar.” He said.

“You are doing great. Can you slip your gown off?” Amanda asked and Spencer looked over at Hotch. Once he nodded that it was alright, he pulled the gown off his arms, letting it cover only his lap.

She pointed at a few very faded scars on his chest, “A cigar burn, rope, a knife.” Spencer listed out as she pointed before she moved to his back. “Belt, whip, rope” The same thing happened with Spencer’s legs, which also had very few scars, before she got to the sole of his right foot. “ _His_ mark.. I was supposed to be _his_ forever…” he said, looking as if he was going to cry.

The nurse quickly moved on, “Great work. Now I will need you to put your legs in these stirrups” She said as she pulled the stirrups out of the hospital bed. “and scoot your bottom to the very edge of the bed.” Spencer did so without hesitation. Clearly he had done this before. “The nurse draped a blanket over Spencer’s lap, “Now are you sure you want these two men to stay? They can wait in the hallway if you prefer.” She asked, gesturing to Hotch and Morgan. Hotch had moved over by Morgan near the head of the bed instead of the foot of the bed in order to give Spencer some form of privacy.

“No, no. Please. I want them here.” Spencer said, already starting to panic.

“Okay, it’s okay. They will stay.” Amanda said and she started to prep what she needed for her swabs. Spencer leaned back and got the same distant look he had when the team first arrived at his hospital room. He let her do her exam as he spaced out, completely dissociating from what was happening. The snap of the nurse pulling her gloves off brought Spencer back to reality. “You did great Spencer. I am very proud of you, that couldn’t have been easy. Overall, you look in great shape down there.” She said, trying hard to hide her surprise. The hospital staff was informed that Spencer was a human trafficking victim, so she was probably expecting the worst.

“I know. _He_ always made sure I stayed healthy and tight.” Spencer said with a smile.

The nurse didn’t know how to respond to that, so she just didn’t, “Well I need to get this into the lab. Thank you again.” She said, leaving just as quickly as the doctor did.

Lastly, it was the second nurse's turn. “My name is Jessica. I just need to take some blood samples, sweetie.” She said moving to the medical cabinet near the door and getting out a blood sample kit.

Spencer’s eyes grew wide, “No! No injections! Please! I will be good!” He started screaming. The nurse backed up as Spencer started to climb out of bed, “I need to leave. Please!”

Morgan quickly grabbed Spencer’s wrist and pulled him back to the bed as Hotch said, “Stay,” loudly. Spencer froze at the command but was shaking violently as he started to sob.

“Please.. Please don’t… I don’t want it…” Spencer begged.

“Kid, Spencer, listen to me. There are no injections, okay? No drugs or anything.” Morgan tried to calm him down, placing his hand in Spencer’s.

“A-are y-you sure? I s-see the n-needle..” Spencer stammered out between sobs.

“I promise. She is just going to take some blood. Nothing is going in you.” Morgan said in a soothing tone.

“O-Okay..” Spencer croaked out, even though he was still actively crying. The nurse moved slowly, explaining everything as she did it. She was surprised she found a vein on the first try as Spencer was still shaking. The nurse finished up and left without a word.

Morgan pulled a chair over and sat next to Spencer, who was still crying and naked from the waist up while his bottom half was covered by only a blanket. He held his hand and quietly hushed him until the sobs subsided and his eyelids started to look heavy. “Get some rest, Pretty Boy. We will still be here when you wake up.” Morgan said quietly, reaching up and brushing his long hair out of his face. Spencer hummed and let his eyes fall closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I opened my laptop to do my homework.. long story short it's 4 am and I have this instead. Send help XD  
> Let me know what you all think! I love all feedback.  
> Thank you for reading!


	3. White Rice

Hotch and Morgan sat in stressed silence while Spencer slept. At least fifteen minutes went by before either one of them moved. They both knew that they should continue working, check up on the rest of the team, see if Garcia found out any more about Spencer’s past, or his father, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t bear the thought of leaving this young man even though they just met. Even JJ, who left before Spencer’s exam, didn’t want to actually go. She had started to tear up and didn’t want to cry in front of the victim.

Morgan looked over at Spencer sleeping. He looked peaceful. His bare chest was slowly rising and falling, completely oblivious to the stress around him. He was surprised at how thin Spencer was despite not having protruding ribs. He assumed Spencer was just naturally thin, possibly a few pounds underweight but he still looked relatively healthy. His hair, while it was in desperate need of being brushed now, was clean, even looked conditioned. His skin was flawless as well. Morgan couldn’t help but wonder if Spencer’s appearance was kept up due to what Maximillian wanted to see in his sex slave or if he was actually loved.

Morgan still had his hand firmly planted in Spencer’s when a small knock came to the door. Hotch let out a quiet groan as he got up to answer it. It was Agent Swann. Hotch stepped out to talk with her about what had happened over the course of the last two hours. Even though the door was cracked, Morgan could barely hear them. He did hear Hotch tell Swann that they lied to Spencer and said that the BAU owned him for now. To Morgan’s surprise, Swann was understanding. He was sure that the agent, that had been working in sex crimes and human trafficking for more than a decade, would have been upset. Instead Morgan heard pieces of praise from Swann. Something about how someone who was held in captivity for so long could have a mental break from being suddenly freed, really if they weren’t fully aware that they shouldn’t have been someone else’s property.

Agent Swann and Hotch talked in the hallway for a few more minutes before Morgan heard several familiar voices join them. It was JJ, Emily, and Rossi. Morgan wanted to go see them and ask why they were all there, but he told Spencer that he would still be there when he woke up and that was what he was planning to do.

Soon the door opened and the BAU team and Agent Swann shuffled in. Due to the limited chairs in Spencer’s hospital room, Rossi and Emily were carrying their own chairs and placed them farthest away from the bed. When Emily set her chair down, it accidentally knocked against the wall, causing a loud bang.

Suddenly Spencer was jumping out of bed. He pulled his hand out of Morgan’s, threw his blanket off, and quickly moved to the floor, either oblivious or not caring about the fact that he was completely naked. He got into a kneeling position with his head bowed, and his hands faced upward on his lap. Spencer looked terrified but he didn’t make a sound. The room froze with everyone watching the scene in front of them.

Agent Swann, who had seen victims act like this before, tried to calm Spencer down, “Hi, Spencer. My name is Andi Swann. You can call me Andi.” She said in a calm and light voice. Spencer, once again, didn’t react to Swann at all. “Spencer.. I won’t hurt you. I just need to ask a few questions, okay?” Still nothing. Spencer was completely still. His long hair blanketed around most of his face, but you could just barely see his eyes, they were distant. Staring at the floor but not focused on it. Swann gave a confused look at Hotch, who walked up a little closer to Spencer.

“Spencer, get up,” Hotch said softly, despite the command. Once the words left Hotch’s mouth, Spencer was standing. His head was still bowed, and his arms were down, wrists together behind his back, as if he were waiting to be handcuffed. “Look at me, please,” Hotch said and Spencer’s head shot up, looking directly at Hotch. “I need you to relax, Spencer. Like you were earlier. Please get back on the bed.”

Spencer’s shoulders visibly relaxed before he climbed himself back on the bed. Morgan, who was the closest one to the bed, placed the blanket back around Spencer’s waist when he didn’t grab for it himself. JJ stepped forward, “Hey Spence. Remember me?” She said gently while holding a large shopping bag. He looked at her when she spoke but didn’t answer.

Morgan sighed; _He hasn’t been told he is allowed to speak since he woke up._ He thought to himself. “Kid, please speak. You are allowed to speak freely, remember?”

Spencer looked over at Hotch, as if he were making sure these rules were still correct before looking back at JJ, “Yes, Miss JJ. I remember you.” He said quietly, bowing his head slightly to her as a sign of respect before lifting it back up.

“Just JJ, please. Look.” JJ said, lifting the bag she was holding up. “I got you some clothes. Would you like to see?”

Spencer’s eyes went wide with a mixture of surprise and excitement. “Really? Yes, please.” He said bouncing slightly in his bed like a child. JJ smiled widely, walked over, and place the bag on the side of the bed next to his leg. He started to pull out the outfits. A pack of plain t-shirts, a pack of black boxer briefs, a few pairs of decorative socks, a few pairs of lounge pants, and a pair of slides. Spencer took a few minutes taking everything out of the bag slowly. Once he was done, he looked confused. “These… The clothes are for.. men.” Spencer said cautiously.

JJ didn’t understand what he meant and looked around to her team, who looked equally confused. “Yes, sweetie. They are men’s clothes. Is that alright?”

Spencer looked down at the clothes, picking up the pack of boxer briefs and staring at them, “I—I don’t know… Is it?” Spencer asked, looking at Hotch. Even though Spencer was told that he was owned by the whole BAU, it seemed as if he was quick to notice that Hotch was in charge.

“Yes, you are allowed to wear men’s clothing. Do you.. prefer women’s clothing?” Hotch asked and Spencer shook his head no.

Rossi, who had just left Maximillian’s estate, understood the problem, “Spencer, did Max let you wear men’s clothing?” He asked but Spencer didn’t look up. He didn’t acknowledge that the older man spoke at all.

“Kid, why aren’t you answering Rossi?” Morgan asked.

Spencer looked at Morgan and then over to the side of the room that Rossi, Emily, and Swann were at, “I was not told I could acknowledge their presence.”

 _Shit.. does he not do anything unless specifically told?_ Morgan thought to himself, “Spencer, you can talk to anyone you want. You don’t need permission anymore.” Spencer just nodded but looked uneasy.

Emily didn’t move from where she was standing but she raised her hand giving a small wave, “Hey Spencer. I am Emily Prentiss, and this is David Rossi” She said gesturing over the Rossi who was standing next to her. They were too on edge to sit in the chairs they brought. “We are members of the BAU like JJ, Hotch, and Morgan,” Emily said

This time Spencer still didn’t answer but for a different reason. His eyes were wide and fixed on Rossi. “You… You are David Rossi. I have read your books.”

Rossi shook his head slightly in confusion, “You read my books?”

“Of course!” Spencer said, getting excited again, “ _He_ had them in his library and _he_ would let me go in there sometimes to read while he worked.”

“And.. You understood them?” Rossi asked gently. He knows this young man has a high IQ, but he has also been someone else’s prisoner for 13 years. That doesn’t give a lot of opportunities for education about the real world.

“Yes sir!” Spencer said, his voice was laced with joy and excitement. “If I could talk to you about your work with the Scarsdale Skinner. Psycholinguistics is an incredibly dynamic field, and the fact that your profile of his reading habits ultimately led to his capture is something I find so incredibly intriguing! I—" Spencer suddenly stopped, looking around at the shocked faces around him. “I am so sorry.” He said quickly as he bowed his head submissively.

Morgan pushed his confusion aside to comfort the boy, “Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong. When we said you could talk freely, we meant it, okay?” Spencer looked at Morgan and nodded.

“We will talk about the Scarsdale Skinner case later,” Rossi said with a grin. “For now, I need you to answer my question, did Max let you wear men’s clothing?” Spencer shook his head no after a minute. “What did he have you wear?” Rossi asked, even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer having seen what clothes were in his old room.

“Nothing most of the time. _He_ liked to see all of me. When I left my room, I would wear whatever he picked, which was almost always a dress with panties, sometimes tights or a padded bra.” He said, placing his hands over his chest as if he were grabbing the boobs he didn’t have. “ _He_ said, ‘You get fucked like a bitch, you dress like a bitch’.” Spencer said with a small laugh as if he was completely unaware of the insult.

JJ sighed, “Well are these clothes okay, Spence? I could exchange them for some more feminine outfits if you prefer.”

“No, no. Please. I love them. Thank you very much, JJ” Spencer said with a large smile as he sat and held the clothes.

Everyone was expecting Spencer to take the clothes out of the packaging and put them on, but he just continued to sit there and hold them. “Would you like us to step out?” JJ asked, assuming he was shy.

“No, don’t go please.” He said, starting to panic again, tears were already welling in his eyes.

“Okay, it’s okay. We can stay but.. aren’t you going to put the clothes on?” JJ asked

Spencer looked around the room before looking back at the clothes, “Am I allowed too?” he asked softly.

The question hurt JJ’s heart, but she didn’t let it show, “Yes, of course. Can I help you?” Spencer nodded his head eagerly. JJ grabbed the package of t-shirts first, quickly opening them up and roughly pulling one out of the pack and shoving the rest in the bag. “Here, I am going to put this over your head now,” JJ said, placing the shirt over Spencer’s head and helping his arms through the sleeves like someone would with a child. The shirt was a deep purple with a pocket on the chest. It was a little large, with the neck slumping over one of his shoulders but Spencer looked amazed. He smoothed out the shirt and fingered the pocket. “Sorry, it’s a little big. I wasn’t sure about your size.” JJ said as she grabbed the pack of boxer briefs and pulled a pair out as she did with the shirts. 

Spencer stayed silent as he swung his legs over the side of his bed. JJ got the message and helped him get his boxers on one leg at a time before Spencer stood up, waiting for JJ to pull them up all the way. It was painfully obvious that Spencer was used to someone dressing him and manipulating his body around. JJ didn’t falter as she helped the young man into his boxer briefs while everyone else diverted their eyes for his modesty, even if he didn’t care about it. Once the boxers were on, Spencer did the same thing as before. He smoothed them out, running his hands over the soft black cotton in an innocent fashion, even though it looked quite lewd.

Before JJ could grab the pants, Spencer sat back down on the bed and tears started to run down his cheeks. “I—I..” Spencer started before a sob broke through his lips.

“Oh.. Spence. What is wrong? Do you not like the clothes?” JJ asked softly once she saw the boy start to cry.

“No.. I love them… I… I am so happy” Spencer said between sobs as he buried his face into his hands.

JJ’s eyes went wide. She couldn’t help but tear up as well. “Spence.. Can I give you a hug?” Spencer took his hands off his face for a moment to look at Hotch, who nodded his okay, even though Spencer didn’t need permission. Then he turned back to JJ and nodded yes vigorously. In one swift motion, JJ was wrapping her arms around Spencer’s neck, allowing him to rest his head on her chest as he sobbed roughly. He melted into the hug, wrapping his hands around JJ’s thin waist.

The team just watched, feeling both happy and sad for Spencer. After a few minutes, Spencer’s sobs subsided, and JJ slowly pulled from the hug. Morgan reached over the bed and collected the clothes and packages back into the bag and placed them on the side table next to Spencer’s hospital bed. He figured that pants might be a bit much right now. Spencer whispered “Thank you” a few times to JJ as he settled back on the inclined hospital mattress.

You could feel the emotions in the room. Just a few interactions and everyone was already on edge. Hotch cleared his throat to get the attention back. “Let’s go ahead and take a break for lunch. Spencer, what would you like to eat? There was a pizza and sub sandwich place downstairs. I think the hospital cafeteria is serving burgers and stir fry.” Spencer’s face scrunched up in confusion.

Swann understood the problem automatically, “What did you eat at your past owner’s house?” Morgan cringed at the words she chose but he wasn’t going to question the expert.

Spencer’s face relaxed, “Ohh, white rice.” He said plainly.

“Is that all?” Swann asked, writing something down in the folder she had been holding.

“Sometimes I would get a piece of chicken with dinner. On days I was fucked and used a lot I would get some brown gravy with the rice. That was the best..” Spencer stopped and unconsciously licked his lips, “About once a week I would get an apple in the morning and if something bad happened I would get a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm..” Spencer made a little moan at the thought of ice cream. Morgan couldn’t figure out if it was cute or depressing.

Swann was writing everything he said down. It was clear that she wanted to continue asking questions, but she just nodded her head at him and looked back at Hotch. “Well, how about I get you some white rice and something else, like a piece of pizza. That way you could still eat the rice if you are uncomfortable with the pizza.” Hotch said.

“Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!” Spencer said loudly, smiling to himself.

The team, including Agent Swann, reluctantly filed out of the room but as Morgan went to stand up Spencer’s eyes grew distant and he stuck his hands out in front of him as if he were about to be handcuffed. “Kid? What’s up?” Morgan asked as he passed his bed to go out of the door.

“I… You are all leaving. There will be no one here to watch me… I need to be restrained.” Spencer said quietly.

Morgan looked down at the layered bruises that circled around Spencer’s ankles, wrists, and throat. _Well, those make sense now…_ “You don’t need to be restrained anymore. We trust you to stay.” Morgan said but Spencer didn’t relax. He continued to hold his arms out, wrists together. “How about I stay with you? They can bring us both back some food and we can eat together.” Morgan said eyeing Hotch who was standing in the doorway. He nodded and left, already knowing what Morgan liked to eat due to working with him for so many years.

“Yes, thank you! Today has been great..” Spencer said, pulling his legs up to his chest and grabbing his feet in a purely childish manner.

Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle, “No problem, Pretty Boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels short, sorry.  
> Let me know what you all think :D


	4. Lunch and Lists

The two men sat in silence until the team came back with their food. Morgan tried to ask Spencer if he wanted the TV on or if he wanted to talk and he said he was fine each time. Morgan gave up and ended up playing with his phone while Spencer spaced out. He sat and ran his hands over his clothes or twirled his hair, similar to what he did when the team first got to the hospital. Morgan couldn’t help but wonder how the boy was so calm about having nothing to do. _He must have spent long periods alone with nothing to do in order to be this okay with it._ Morgan thought before there was a knock on the door.

Spencer instinctively looked at Morgan to know what to do instead of looking at the door, but he relaxed once he heard Hotch open the door and say, “Hey Spencer, it’s just me, Aaron.”

Spencer turned his head quickly around to Hotch, “Hello, Aaron sir. I hope you had a good lunch.” He said with a bright smile on his face. Morgan wondered if Spencer was actually happy to see Hotch or if he was just used to trying to make others happy.

Hotch came in the room with two trays in hand and set them both down on the rolling hospital table before rolling the table between Morgan’s chair and Spencer’s hospital bed. “I did, thank you for asking. Go ahead and get started, Spencer. The team will be in here shortly to ask some more questions.” Hotch said as he moved over to a chair near the door and started to flip through a case file, most likely Spencer’s.

Morgan moved the rolling hospital tray over Spencer’s lap in bed. One tray had a bottle of water, a small carton of juice, a cup of white rice with brown gravy on the side and a slice of cheese pizza. While the other tray was clearly Morgan’s with two pieces of pepperoni pizza, a small bag of chips and a can of soda. Morgan took his tray and sat down with it on his lap, not waiting a second before digging into his pizza. He tried to not look at Spencer, figuring he was probably used to eating alone but after he finished his first slice of pizza he looked up and noticed that Spencer hadn’t even started to eat. He was just staring down at his plate with a mix of awe and panic.

“Hey, kid? You okay?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, sir,” Spencer replied quickly but didn’t look away from his plate.

Morgan ignored the ‘sir’ for now. “Well, why aren’t you eating? Do you need help?” Morgan asked, standing up and setting his own tray in his chair.

Spencer looked at Morgan and then over to Hotch, who had looked up from his case file, before looking back down at the tray. “I—uhh… Am I allowed?” Spencer asked quietly.

Morgan was surprised. He thought that was clear. They asked him what he wanted and then put it in front of him. “Why would we give you food and not let you eat it?” Morgan asked. He regretted asking once the words came out of his mouth.

Spencer looked a little confused. “ _He_ did it..”

“He did what, Spencer?” Hotch asked.

“Oh, _he_ would ask what food I wanted or put his own meal in front of me and leave. _He_ wanted to see if I would betray him or if I was loyal.” Spencer said, still watching his plate.

Hotch started writing down what Spencer was saying, “What did he do if you ate it?”

“Punch me in the stomach until I threw up. Then I wasn’t allowed to eat for at least three days. It only happened three times, then I learned my lesson. I am glad _he_ taught me how to be better,” Spencer said with a smile before looking up from his plate and looking between the older men, “Now I can be perfect for you all and any future owner.”

Morgan had to take a deep breath. He felt his anger growing for anyone that ever hurt Spencer and he didn’t want it to show. “Spencer.. We would never do that. We only say what we mean so when Hotch said he was going to get you food to eat, he meant you can eat it, okay?”

Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed further. “But… I… Uhh… I didn’t earn this.”

By now Hotch had gotten up and walked over to Spencer’s hospital bed, opposite Morgan. “Spencer, look at me,” Hotch said and Spencer quickly looked up, making direct eye contact. “We will never make you earn privileges or food and we will not punish you. Remember what Derek said, your only rules are to focus on getting better and just doing what we ask of you. Right now, we are asking that you try and eat. You don’t have to eat it all, just eat what _you_ want.”

Spencer sighed, “Yes, sir.” Again, they didn’t bother correcting him.

Instead, Hotch went back to his seat and Morgan reached in front of Spencer and prepped his food for him, opening the bottle of water, taking the lid off the rice, and opening his plastic utensil pack. “There you go, Pretty Boy. You need anything else?” Spencer shook his head no and picked up his fork as Morgan went back to his chair to eat. This time Morgan watched Spencer as he ate his second piece of pizza.

Spencer looked terrified. His hand was shaking as he moved his fork to his white rice. He tasted it without the gravy before quickly looking up at Hotch and then over at Morgan to see if they were upset. Morgan just offered a kind smile before popping his can of soda open. The sudden sound caused Spencer to jump and a small whimper escaped his lips which made him throw his hand over his mouth as if he wasn’t allowed to make noise. Morgan looked up at Hotch, who shook his head slightly to tell Morgan not to say anything.

Spencer ate about half of his white rice, looking at the two men between bites, before taking his plastic spoon, dipping it in the brown gravy, and pouring some on a bite of white rice. He quickly put it in his mouth, trying to hide the bite. Spencer moaned shamelessly around the rice in his mouth. Hotch raised an eyebrow at the moan but it shot right to Morgan’s groin. _Great.. If that is what he sounds like with a little gravy, I do not want to be around here when he eats the pizza._ Morgan held in a chuckle at the thought. _Calm down Derek, the last thing the kid needs is for you to be a pervert right after he was freed from being a sex slave for fuck’s sake._ Morgan thought, taking his phone out to distract him as Spencer continued to eat his rice mixed with gravy and moan loudly.

Just as Spencer was finishing his rice, there was a knock on the door accompanied by JJ’s voice saying, “It’s just us, Spence” loudly as she opened the door. The team shuffled back into the room. Hotch stood up to allow Rossi and Emily the two chairs they brought in by the door. JJ also sat down near Spencer while Andi Swann sat in the doctor’s rolling chair next to the counter. She was a comfortable distance away from Spencer but close enough to speak with him. Hotch moved his chair up to the counter as well and started showing the other agent the notes he made about Spencer’s meals.

Morgan looked back over at Spencer, who had stopped eating and set his hands on his lap with his head slightly bowed. “Hey, Spencer. Head up, you okay?”

“Oh, yes. I am done eating, thank you.” Spencer said, looking over at Morgan.

“You didn’t eat your pizza,” Morgan said matter-of-factly but quickly kept going when he saw the scared look on Spencer’s face. “That’s fine, kid. Did you like your rice and gravy?”

“Oh yes, sir. Very much.” Spencer said with a smile and JJ got up and started to collect the trays.

JJ pulled the hospital rolling tray to the side, away from Spencer’s lap. “Sweetie, do you want your blanket on or your pants?” JJ asked when she noticed Spencer was still in only his boxer briefs under the table.

“No thank you, Mis—JJ,” Spencer said as he pulled his long pale legs up to his chest, pulling his shirt over them as if it were a flowy dress and he hugged himself. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, Spence.” JJ smiled and took her seat.

“Spencer, Andi here is going to be asking you some questions. I want you to remember that you will not get in trouble for anything you say and to please answer the questions the best you can, okay?” Hotch said as Swann finished copying down the notes Hotch made. Spencer nodded his head, yes.

Agent Andi Swann set a tape recorder on the table, pressing record, and started to ask Spencer general questions like his name, date, and place of birth and parents’ names. Morgan couldn’t understand why the room was full of profilers for the interview though, so he discreetly sent Hotch a text.

(Derek Morgan): _Why is everyone here for this? Don’t you think he would like some privacy?_

Hotch looked at his phone the second it went off. He glared at Morgan for a second before replying.

(Aaron Hotchner): _A few members of Swann’s team seem to think that Spencer was an accomplice because he is generally healthy. Our team was asked to sit in on the interview to see if he is lying or not._

(Derek Morgan): _What the hell, man? He is would have to be the world’s best liar. There is no way he was an accomplice_

(Aaron Hotchner): _I know that, but we have to prove it._

Morgan shook his head. He couldn’t believe that someone would think Spencer was in on anything. _He believes he is someone’s property and there is nothing wrong with that. How—_ Morgan’s thoughts were cut off by Swann.

“Great job. Now I have some questions just about Maximillian Alexander and your time there. First, What was your relationship to him?”

“I am _his_ … I mean, I was _his_.” Spencer said moving his fingers to his foot to graze the brand he had under his right foot.

“Can you explain that further?” Swann asked.

Spencer cocked his head to the side, thinking, before answering, “ _He_ was my owner. I was _his_ property, _his_ pet. I am only alive to serve my owner.”

Swann wrote as Spencer talked, “When did he become your owner?”

“Wednesday, April 28, 1999, at 12:17 pm” Spencer replied quickly.

Swann looked a little confused at the exact time but didn’t dwell on it. “How old were you?”

“17 years old and 6 months exactly,” Spencer answered without a thought.

Morgan looked around the room at his team. They all had the same surprised look that he had on his own face. _8 years. He was with that man for 8 years.. I thought it was closer to a year or two.._ Morgan had so many questions swimming around in his head over what Spencer must have had to go through, but his biggest question was why he wasn’t more upset about Maximillian’s death. He profiled as a victim with Stockholm Syndrome but now Morgan got the idea that Spencer didn’t have an attachment to Maximillian at all. He was just trained to follow his orders. Morgan wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing..

“Can you tell me about how you became his, focusing on Maximillian Alexander, not the owner you had before him,” Swann asked.

“I was being sold. I was no longer useful to my past owner and _he_ was among the group that came for the auction.” Spencer started, seemingly unfazed about the upsetting topic of being sold.

Before he could continue, Swann cut in. “Were you the only one or were there others being sold?”

“Four others were in my group, but one man was too weak and ended up being killed in front of the buyers before the auction started.” Spencer was starting to fidget, seemly upset.

“Do you remember the names of any of these people?”

Spencer looked up at the ceiling and his lips started to move as if he were reading out loud, but he didn’t make any noise. After a minute he goes, “I remember the names the other four were called and the names of two buyers other than _him_ that I heard. None of the other buyers were called by name _.”_

Swann looked over at Hotch with a confused look. Hotch wasn’t sure if she was confused because of the use of the word ‘him’ or because Spencer could remember names from 8 years ago. “Spencer calls Maximillian ‘he’ or ‘him’ only and he told us that he has an eidetic memory.” Hotch filled in.

“Alright.” Swann still looked confused but let it go, “Can you write down the names you remember?” She said, handing a notepad and pen to Spencer after he shook his head yes.

Spencer leaned the notepad against his curled-up legs inside his shirt and started the list. Morgan had a good view of Spencer’s paper as he wrote. His handwriting was atrocious, but Morgan could still make out the list.

_‘Subject 23- Alfredo Palmer (dead)_

_Subject 59- Emma Hunt_

_Subject 46- Megan Reynolds_

_Subject 41- Joshua Burton_

_Buyer- Willie Lee_

_Buyer- Gregg Hoffman (Bought Emma Hunt)’_

Spencer handed the notepad and pen back to Swann once he was done. She just glanced at the list before tucking it back under her open case file. “Thank you. So, you were telling me about the day you were bought by Maximillian.” She nudged him to keep going.

“I recognized _him_ right away. _He_ had come to the.. area.. before, 36 days prior to my auction. _He_ talked to me that day and told me I was too young for him, but _he_ wanted me anyway. I was the youngest and the only virgin in the group. _He_ liked that. _He_ told me that used property that was still a virgin and that wasn’t maimed was rare. That _he_ could buy one new, but _he_ didn’t like having to break a new one in.” Spencer said with a slight smile, as if basically being called a broken virgin was a good thing. “So, when I saw _him_ , I was so happy. I knew _he_ would buy me, and I was right.” Spencer looked almost giddy.

Swann was speechless. She ran her hand over her face, not caring about her makeup. “Umm.. So, you were happy to be bought by Maximillian?”

“Of course. I knew I would be used differently then I was used at that.. place and while we couldn’t talk much in my group, Emma told me about her owner before that and that they liked cutting their property. She was covered in scars, but she said that they would cut deep and watch them bleed and scream but won’t let them die until they were bored. Sometimes they just cut into skin but sometimes limbs. She was missing three fingers, one ear, and six toes..” Spencer said quietly as he looked down at his own fingers resting on his knees.

The whole team looked a little sick. They had seen some horrible things but having this young man explain what he heard with his childish disposition and light voice was just wrong. But they also knew that he was just barely getting started. “Let’s circle back,” Swann said. “Tell me about your life with Maximillian Alexander.”

“Umm.. It was nice. _He_ took care of me, trained me well, taught me how to be used properly, _he_ didn’t let the others fuck me without _his_ permission, the punishments were understandable.. _He_ wasn’t sadistic.. _He_ kept me.” Spencer said with his smile returning to his face.

“When you say, he kept you. Were there others that he didn’t keep?”

Spencer froze. His eyes went wide then distant. He uncurled himself from inside of his shirt and moved to sit cross-legged. He bowed his head and placed his hands on his lap. The team waited for Spencer to move, to say something, but he never did. After a few minutes, JJ spoke up, “Spence? We don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want too.” She said softly but Spencer didn’t react. He was acting the same as he did when the team first saw him.

Hotch took a deep breath, knowing what he was going to have to do. “Spencer. Speak now.” He said loudly in his deep unit chief voice. Spencer immediately snapped out of it and looked over at Hotch. Tears silently ran down Spencer’s cheeks.

“S-sorry..” was all Spencer could say before his tears picked up and he started openly sobbing. JJ wasted no time going over to Spencer, asking him if she could give him a hug and then climbing into his bed and holding him close to her chest as he cried. Everyone just sat and watched the scene in front of them. It was heartbreaking. Spencer could talk about being sold, trained, and raped with no issue but once other human trafficking victims came up, he couldn’t hold it together. It either showed just how much this young man cared for others above himself or that he really didn’t know that what was happening to him was a bad thing.

Agent Andi Swann wanted to take another break, but she needed more. If there were others on the property then Spencer might know their names which could bring them one step further to tracking down more human trafficking victims. After a few minutes, and Spencer calmed down some, she brought it up. “Hey, Spencer. I know this has been a lot, but I need to ask one more thing before we take a break. Do you remember any of the other people that were owned by Maximillian?” She asked and Spencer nodded yes. “Will you write the names down like you did before?” Spencer nodded again and reached for the paper and pen.

He leaned the notepad against his legs and wrote all the names he could remember as fast as he could. JJ sat next to him on the bed, rubbing his back or hair while he wrote in barely legible handwriting. Morgan could see that the list was similar to the first one. Spencer would write a name and then put dead or sold next to it. Minutes flew by and Spencer was still writing.

None of them knew what to expect but they knew they weren’t expecting the large list that Spencer produced. Morgan tried to count all of the names from where he was. _46.. 46 people were bought by this dick and most of those names have dead next to it.. How did he survive?_ Morgan thought as Swann looked over the list. She was just as shocked.

Spencer curled up on JJ and started crying again, holding her waist, and crying on to her chest. It was surprising how the tall young man could curl up and look so incredibly small. JJ stroked his head in a motherly manner, and he melted into the touch, falling asleep again within minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support and reading this :D  
> Let me know what you all think. I know it feels like it is moving slowly but this is a slow burn and I have a thing for too much detail. I hope not to lose anyone with the pace but it will pick up.


	5. Videos and X-rays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Graphic description of rape. The scene is broken off by * if you wish to skip.

A few minutes after Spencer fell asleep, Agent Andi Swann pulled the lists that he made back out and started to look over them. “Eidetic memory, huh?”

Hotch nodded his head. “That is what he told us. I had Garcia pull up some of his school forms and they had him down for having an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory and able to read 20,000 words per minute.”

“Wow, 20,000 words per minute? Is that even possible?” Emily asked from her spot by the door.

“I am not sure.. When he talked about Rossi’s books, his intelligence was obvious but other than that, he just seems overtly childish.” Hotch said.

“Can you blame him though? His childhood was stolen from him..” Morgan said. The room grew quiet again and all that could be heard was the light sound of Spencer sleeping on JJ’s chest. Her eyes were closed too but she was still awake, soothing her hand over his hair.

“46 people,” Swann said, breaking the silence.

“What?” Rossi asked

“The list of people of names he knew. There is 46 of them and 32 have the word ‘dead’ next to them.. We had no idea that this level of human trafficking and murder was happening at Maximillian’s estate..” Swann said somberly, handing the list over to Hotch.

Hotch huffed, “At least we have names. It looks like he also listed out the names of the three dead women that were found at the estate yesterday as well.” Hotch said when he noticed a small star next to the last three names on the list.

Swann stood up and gathered up her papers. She looked over at Spencer again before saying, “I don’t think he is faking this. I know I am not a profiler, but he seems so genuine.”

“He had clear visceral reactions when others were mentioned. He might not be reacting properly to his own trauma, but he was upset about the murders of others.” Rossi said standing up as well.

“There is no way he is faking this,” Morgan said with a hint of anger.

Hotch nodded his head. “Morgan, JJ, I want you two to stay here while we start to go over these names. Call me if anything changes.”

“Sure thing.” Morgan said to Hotch and then turned to Swann, “Are you coming back today for more questions?”

“Most likely. I want to go over his stay with Maximillian while it’s still fresh in his mind..” Swann stopped for a second, thinking, before she continued, “I have seen a few cases that are similar to Spencer’s. Where the victim believes that what happened to them was right. In cases were the person was born into human trafficking, there is less hope. Being someone else’s is all they know unless they were raised by someone that told them that the situation is wrong. In cases like Spencer’s, where the victim was just young, there is more hope.. It will hit him though and there is no telling how he will react.” Swann said before walking out of the door without saying bye. The rest of the team followed, saying bye or waving.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morgan sat in the same hospital chair next to Spencer’s bed for about an hour as the young man slept. JJ held him the whole time and ended up falling asleep herself. Morgan left once while JJ was still awake to grab some coffee from the hospital cafeteria but other than that, he had stayed right next to Spencer. Morgan ended up turning the small TV hanging from the wall in front of Spencer’s bed on and watching the first thing that played, which was a National Geographic show on pollution. He didn’t really care for the show, but it was better than nothing.

Just as the show was ending Morgan heard a small huff come from Spencer. He looked over to see Spencer wide awake, still leaning on JJ, but his eyes were glued to the screen. “You okay, Pretty Boy?” Morgan asked quietly.

Spencer furrowed his brow, “The show was wrong.. well more like misleading.”

Morgan almost laughed. _This kid has been in captivity for 13 years and he is trying to correct National Geographic.. Yeah right.._ Morgan thought before saying, “What do you mean?”

“Well,” Spencer started but stopped himself, “Mmm.. People don’t like to hear the stuff I know.”

“No way. I wanna hear it. Come on.” Morgan pushed.

Spencer looked surprised and smiled, sitting up slightly. “Well, the show talked about air pollution as if it were only something that could be seen. Visible air pollution is typically referred to as smog. There are two types of smog, sulfurous and photochemical. Both of which are harmful. They can be detrimental to plants, causes respiratory distress and can burn your eyes but it is not the worse type of air pollution. The worse is the pollution that you cannot see, such as biological pollutants, microscopic particles, gaseous pollutants, or invisible gases. They can contain mold, fungal spores, bacteria and viruses, allergens, as well as NO2, CO, Formaldehyde, Lead, O3, VOCs and…” Spencer stopped his rant suddenly when he saw the shocked look at Morgan’s face. “I am sorry…” He said, bowing his head.

Morgan shook the look off of his face, “No, no. You did nothing wrong. I was just surprised that you know all that.”

“I like to read..” Spencer said as a smile crawled back on his face. “ _He_ had a huge library and I read every book he had. If I was really good _he_ would get me a new textbook or research papers.. I—” Spencer stopped himself again.

“What is it?” Morgan asked but Spencer shook his head. “No, come on. You won’t get in trouble.”

“I—uhh… I was just wondering… Will I get books with you all?” Spencer stuttered out.

Morgan didn’t know what to say. They didn’t know how long he was going to be in the hospital or where he was going to be sent next. So Morgan just said what he knew Spencer wanted to hear, “Of course. You will be able to read as much as you want.”

Spencer’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. “Thank you so much, sir! Wow. I can’t wait..” Morgan just smiled back. He hated that he might be lying to the boy even more than he already was.

The smile left Spencer’s face quickly when there was a knock on the door. A heavy-set nurse with long orangish-red hair came in a second later. “Spencer Reid?” She asked with a thick southern accent.

Spencer looked over at Morgan but didn’t speak. Morgan stood up and grabbed Spencer’s hand, giving a little squeeze, as if he were telling him it was okay. “Yes, his name is Spencer,” Morgan answered for him.

“Okay, sweetie.” She said to Morgan before looking back at Spencer, “My name is Pearl. I gotta take you for some x-rays. You know what that is, hun?”

Spencer was still looking at Morgan, ignoring the nurse and the slowly awakening JJ next to him. “You can speak to her, kid. Don’t worry.” Morgan said, still holding his hand.

Spencer looked over at the nurse, “X-ray is short for X-radiation, which is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometres to 10 nanometres, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 124 eV to 124 keV. They are most commonly used to view bones.” Spencer said flatly.

The nurse looked surprised, “Oh, well aren’t you as smart as all get out. Well, come on then, hun. Ima take your whole bed, so you don’t even have to get up.” She said, going around and unlocking the wheels on Spencer’s hospital bed.

Spencer looked terrified. JJ, who was fully awake at this point, noticed him start to shake. “He can go but I need to come with him,” JJ said to the nurse.

“Oh, bless your heart. Alrighty. I will wheel you both then. No sweat off my back, hunny. Ready?” She asked as she put Spencer’s chart at the foot of his bed and started to wheel it away from the wall. Spencer just nodded.

“Don’t worry, Spencer. JJ will stay with you the whole time and I will be right here when you two get back.” Morgan said to them as they were wheeled away. Morgan sighed. All he had really done all day was sit in a hospital room chair, but he was exhausted. He had never had a case like this. Normally he had clear victims, clear MO, and evidence. He was working towards catching an unsub but now, the unsub is dead. The victim is alive. The MO is disgusting, and he is having to hear it firsthand from a tormented genius who they are having to lie too.

Morgan sat back in his uncomfortable plastic chair and stared blankly at the TV before sending an update text to Hotch and calling Garcia, who picked up on the second ring.

 _“Derek Morgan! You haven’t called me all day!”_ Garcia’s voice loudly said through the phone.

Morgan sighed, “Yeah, yeah. I know, Baby Girl. I have been busy.”

 _“I heard that you were just on babysitting duty,”_ Garcia said lightly.

“It’s not like that..” Morgan said with a huff.

“ _Okay, handsome. I am just playing. So how may I server you today? Get it, server?”_ Garcia said, laughing at her own joke.

“I was just wondering what was going on with the case and if you had found anything about the kid’s family,” Morgan said into the phone.

 _“I’m sorry Chocolate Thunder, Spencer Reid’s dad is MIA. In the wind. The last thing I could find on him was a hotel he stayed at about 15 years ago when Spencer was 10, most likely after he left him and his mom. Then his records just drop off. If I would take a guess, I would say he is dead or took on a different identity. Either way, I doubt if we found him he would want anything to do with Spencer now.”_ Garcia said.

“Shit.. Alright.. Well does he have any family at all?”

 _“Well his grandparents are dead on both sides, his mom and dad were only siblings, and you know about his poor momma.. The poor guy has no one.”_ Garcia said sadly.

“So, no one was even looking for him…” Morgan thought out loud.

 _“That poor baby.. What is going to happen to him now?”_ Garcia asked but Morgan really didn’t know so he just changed the subject.

“How is the rest of the case going?”

_“Bossman has me going through all the tech they found at that sickos house, which wasn’t much. The most I have found is a video with Spencer on it, but I didn’t watch it. Hotch told me to just get a file together for them to look at and—”_

Morgan cut Garcia off, “Send me the video.”

_“I don’t think that is the best idea pumpkin.. I don’t know what is on it and it—”_

Morgan interrupted Garcia again, “I don’t care. I need to see it.”

 _“Stop interrupting!”_ Garcia yelled into the phone.

“Sorry, momma. Go ahead.” Morgan said.

_“You don’t need to watch it. Agent Swann’s team is taking care of most of this stuff”_

“Listen, Baby Girl. I have heard this kid talk about his time with Maximillian as if he were glad to be there and then he turns around and gets terrified by something small. I mean, JJ got him some cheap clothes and he cried because he was so happy. I need to know what he went through to understand him better.”

Garcia groaned dramatically, _“Fine. But I have no idea what is on the video. I am sending it to your phone now. I gotta get back to work, handsome.”_

“Thanks, Baby Girl,” Morgan said before he hung up. A second later his phone dinged with a video file. Morgan didn’t waste any time getting his earbuds out of his pocket, plugging them into his phone, and putting them in his ears before opening the video and hitting play.

*

The video started with Spencer completely naked except for a collar that was attached to a chain that was hooked to a ring in the middle of the floor. He was standing and setting up the camera himself. He walked around, making sure it was on before going to the middle of the mostly empty room and getting in a kneeling position. He bowed his head and placed his hands face up on his lap, similar to what he did when Emily’s chair scared him awake. Morgan could see the time stamp in the corner of the video start to move faster. The whole video was edited to fast forward. Time sped by and Spencer barely moved. After a few seconds, the time slowed again.

According to the time stamp, the video had fast-forwarded about four hours and Spencer was still kneeling. Finally, there was a sound of a door being unlocked and opened before you could hear a man, _“Ahh good afternoon my little bitch.”_ Then a man stepped into the shot, he was wearing black slacks and an unbuttoned black dress shirt with nothing underneath. Morgan recognized him from the pictures, it was Maximillian Alexander. Spencer didn’t lift his head or address Maximillian at all, which seemed to make him grin slightly as he started to circle the boy on the floor.

He ran his hands over Spencer’s arms, face, and hair in a soothing manner before suddenly gripping and pulling Spencer’s hair with such force he lifted slightly out of his kneeling position, but Spencer didn’t react at all. _“Stand.”_ The man said and Spencer moved to a stand without hesitation. He walked around to the front of Spencer, making sure not to block the view of the video. _“Open.”_ He commanded and Spencer opened his mouth wide, sticking his tongue out and leaving it flat against his bottom lip. Maximillian shoved two of his thick fingers into Spencer’s mouth, moving them in and out on his tongue and sliding deep into his throat before saying, _“Suck.”_ And Spencer obliged. He sucked on Maximillian’s fingers dutifully but still didn’t seem to react other than doing what he was told.

After a minute or two, Maximillian took his fingers out of Spencer’s mouth and smacked him in the face with the wet hand. He was hit hard but it was clear that Maximillian was holding back on the smack. Spencer’s body fell to the side at the smack, but he quickly composed himself and got back to the position, opening his mouth back up like he had before, as he was not told he could shut it.

 _“Look into the camera. You like being filmed? You like everyone seeing how well you listen? What a good pet you are. Such a good little bitch.”_ Maximillian said as he walked behind Spencer, but Spencer didn’t answer the questions, he just stared into the camera. Morgan could see Maximillian tap on the side of Spencer’s leg and he automatically spread his feet apart as wide as he could without falling over.

The video didn’t show what Maximillian was doing behind him but based on the small wince that displayed on Spencer’s face for a split second and the movement he could see of Maximillian’s arm, Morgan was sure that he was fingering him roughly. Then he reached around Spencer and started groping his flaccid penis. Spencer’s body started to react to the stimulus, causing the lithe young man to grow hard as his abuser stroked him. _“Don’t cum.”_ He said as he continued to molest Spencer.

Morgan upped the speed time on the video as Maximillian continued to finger and stroke Spencer. He wanted to make sure he finished the video before Spencer and JJ came back. Video Spencer was struggling to stay still and to hold in his orgasm. Morgan stopped fast-forwarding when he heard Maximillian say something, _“Beg, bitch.”_

For the first time, Spencer spoke, his voice was weak and very hoarse. _“Please, sir. It hurts. I can’t hold it anymore. Please let me cum. I need it.”_ Spencer begged as his impossibly hard cock continued to leak on to the floor under him. Morgan would have found this incredibly hot if it weren’t for the fact that he knew this was forced. That Spencer was chained to the floor and had no other choice but to be touched and beg for release. It made Morgan feel sick.

Maximillian laughed loudly at his pleads before suddenly stopping what he was doing to Spencer. Spencer took a strangled breath at the loss, but he didn’t make a noise. _“Bend over and show the camera your little fuck hole,”_ Maximillian said darkly and Spencer did just that. He got on to the ground, bent over and spread his ass cheeks for the camera. Morgan averted his eyes to Maximillian. He knew it didn’t matter but still felt that the boy should have some sort of privacy and Morgan didn’t have permission to look at something so intimate.

Morgan watched as Maximillian stripped out of his pants and boxers, stroking himself a few times before getting down on the ground and lining himself up to Spencer’s hole. The angle the two were in combined with where the camera was at, gave a perfect view of Maximillian suddenly slamming his large cock hard into Spencer, who let out a small muffled whimper.

*

At that, Morgan stopped the video. He couldn’t watch it anymore. He felt like he was going to throw up. He had seen his handful of crimes committed on video but this.. he had never seen a rape video like that. Knowing Spencer, already feeling a strong connection with him, made the whole video a thousand times worse.

Morgan took the earbuds out and put them back in his pocket and deleted the video off his phone before leaning forward and resting his head in his hands. Trying to get the image of Spencer’s small body being ruthlessly penetrated by his large abuser out of his mind.

He didn’t know how long he sat like that before he heard the nurse open the door and wheel the bed holding Spencer and JJ back into the room. Spencer looked as if he had been crying and the nurse and JJ both looked exhausted. Morgan gave JJ and quizzical look and JJ silently mouthed, “Panic attack.”

Once the nurse finished setting the bed back, the doctor from earlier, Dr. Miller, came into the room holding a chart. “Is Agent Hotchner or Agent Swann here?” He asked looking between JJ and Morgan.

Morgan, seeing that JJ was busy comforting Spencer, stood up and shook the doctor’s hand. “I am Agent Morgan, Hotchner and Swann left to work the case.”

Dr. Miller nodded his head, “I will tell you then. The x-rays show a range of past trauma but nothing that needs to be repaired now.” The doctor started, flipping through the chart. “Let’s see we have repaired metaphyseal corner fractures, posteromedial rib fractures, and sternal, scapular, and spinous process fractures. It is hard to tell when these fractures occurred, but they shouldn’t bother him now. Well except for his shoulders. There is damage to the rotator cuffs, muscles, and tendons. It appears as his shoulders were repeatedly dislocated and repaired amateurly.” Morgan looked over at Spencer at that comment. He didn’t look upset about the damage from his abuse but instead, he looked embarrassed. His cheeks were shining a light pink blush and he buried himself further into JJ’s chest.

The doctor continued, “He also had several breaks that were also amateurly repaired. Radius and Ulna on both arms, Tibia on his right leg, Metatarsals on his left foot, Clavicle on both sides.. All of which shouldn’t bother him anymore, but he should be taken into the doctor if any old breaks or fractures start to be too bothersome.”

Morgan wasn’t too sure what to say. Spencer’s body looked well cared for. He had no idea the past damage that was hiding under the surface. “Okay..” Was all Morgan could think to say.

The doctor flipped to the last page of the chart and started again, “We got his blood work back as well. Besides a vitamin deficiency, he is well. No STDs, bloodborne pathogens, or drugs. That being said,” The doctor closed the chart and cleared his throat. “We will be releasing him tomorrow morning.”

“What?” Morgan said loudly, “You gotta be kidding me. We just got him speaking an examined less than ten hours ago and you already want to cut him free? He hasn’t even seen a psychologist yet!” Morgan said, letting some of his anger show.

“I am well aware agent, but Spencer is medically well. A few months of vitamins and a well-rounded diet, and he should be right on track. Psychologically is a different issue. We can’t keep him on this floor just with mental issues. He is currently in the custody of the FBI so tomorrow we are releasing him to you to do with what he needs. He will need to be sent home with a loved one or put into a mental ward or nursing home.” Dr. Miller said smugly, as if he had found a loophole to exploit instead of treating Spencer properly.

Morgan looked over at JJ who spoke up. “We hear you. We will need to speak to our unit chief before we agree on his release.”

Dr. Miller just nodded, “Okay. Let one of the nurses know if you need anything.” He said as he left.

Both JJ and Morgan looked at the young man curled up on the hospital bed on JJ’s side and chest. He was still awake, but his eyes were distant again. He had checked out of the conversation at some point. Morgan ran his hands over his shaved head, “What the hell are we going to do with him?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohh you all know what I am gonna say, 'Let me know what you all think!' XD I need to find a new thing to say  
> Also, is amateurly even a word? I feel like it is but my Word said it wasn't. Oh well.


	6. Wrong Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk if I mentioned it but the timeline is set around season 3-4. Hotch is divorced from Haley but she is still alive and JJ doesn't have Henry yet.
> 
> TW: Detailed rape and murder, probably others.

A few minutes after the doctor left the room, Morgan stepped out of the room and called Hotch.

 _“Hotchner,”_ Hotch said when he answered.

Morgan could hear the team talking in the background. “Hey. We have a problem.” Morgan started.

Hotch walked into a different room and the voices in the background grew quieter. _“What is it?”_

“The doc just came in and told us that they are releasing Spencer tomorrow morning.”

 _“What? I thought we would have at least a few days.. I will talk with Agent Swann and see what we can do. He is still in FBI custody so we will probably have to find a federally run nursing home."_ Hotch said.

“Hotch, man.” Morgan said, stress leaking through his voice. “There is no way we can put him in a home. He is too submissive; someone could easily take advantage of him. First time we met him he offered you oral. That mentality around male staff and patients.. Someone is bound to exploit it.”

Hotch grew quiet before talking again, _“I don’t know what to do, Morgan. I know he has grown on you and JJ but—”_

“And you.” Morgan interrupted.

_“What?”_

“He has grown on you too. Your fatherly instincts kicked in once you heard about him. Don’t deny it.” Morgan said smugly. Hotch didn’t let his feelings get involved in a case too often but they all knew there was something different about this case.

Hotch sighed, _“I will see what I can do. Swann and the team will be by after dinner. Make sure to get him to eat.”_

“See, fatherly again.” Morgan teased and Hotch hung up.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotch hung up on Morgan without saying bye. He knew he was right. He had grown attached to the young man, but he wasn’t going to admit it. That wouldn’t be professional. He didn’t know if it was because he was a father to a little boy and his heart hurt when he thought about the same thing happening to Jack or if he really just hated this young man’s life being stolen from him in such a tragic way.

Hotch made his way back to the conference room where both Andi Swann’s team and the rest of the BAU were working on the case. The list of names had been divided and given to everyone to work on. Even though it had only been a few hours they had already confirmed the identities of the three dead women that were found at the Maximillian estate with the names Spencer gave them. They also were able to match a handful of names with open cases with identified bodies that were found throughout the last eight years, as well as missing person reports. It was clear that Spencer wasn’t lying about having an eidetic memory or about knowing the names of the other victims.

While the BAU team and several members of Swann’s team worked on the names, two agents in Swann’s team were assigned to go through the videos that Garcia had recovered. Since speaking with Morgan, Garcia was able to find several hours of video. Mostly all of the videos were of Spencer, but a few were of different men and women instead.

Rossi went over to Hotch when he came back in the room, “What’s going on?” he asked.

Hotch crossed his arms, “They plan on releasing Spencer tomorrow morning.” He said quietly, he didn’t want to disturb everyone else’s work.

“What? Are you kidding me?” Rossi asked.

Hotch shook his head, “No, apparently he is medically well so they are leaving it up to the FBI to find a place for him..”

“Well, there has to be a few institutions around here that could take him. We could even put him in one closer to Quantico, so we don’t have to travel too far during questioning.” Rossi said. Rossi had been doing this line of work on and off for most of his life. He tried hard not to get attached to cases as he had before, and it always made things more difficult.

“Morgan made the point that if we put him in some type of institution then he will most likely be taken advantage of.”

Rossi shrugged his shoulders, “Is that really our problem?”

“Dave..” Hotch warned.

“I know it’s awful, Aaron, but we can’t save them all. The kid was literally trained to be used. That will most likely follow him around his whole life.” Rossi said bluntly. Hotch sighed, rubbing his face with his hand and Rossi studied his movements carefully. “Hold on.. You aren’t thinking about taking him home, are you? You know you can’t get that close to a case or victim.”

“No.. I—There is just something different about him.”

“Yeah, that he is kinda nuts.” Rossi quickly inserted.

Hotch shot Rossi a strict glare, “You know that—” Hotch started before an agent from Swann’s team cut him off.

“I think everyone should see this.” the agent said, not looking up from the video he was assigned to watch.

Swann stepped forward, “Put it on the big screen.” She said, gesturing to a large projector screen in front of the conference table.

Everyone gathered around the screen as the agent turned the projector on and started the stream. The room sat in deafening silence as the first thing on the screen was Spencer.

*

Spencer was wearing a tight black dress that flowed out at the waist to give a pleated skirt effect. His long golden hair was recently washed and brushed, leaving it looking shiny and beautiful. He looked surprisingly good. If they didn’t know better, they would have thought he was just a tall, flat-chested woman.

He was wearing a thick black choker necklace with an O-ring, but it wasn’t attached to anything and a pair of black leather handcuffs that were locked in front of his body. The chain between the handcuffs was several inches long, giving him enough room to move his hands slightly.

Spencer walked silently around on the video, going back and forth out of the shot. He was holding a washcloth and appeared to be cleaning where the camera didn’t show. After a few minutes something made noise out of the camera shot and Spencer quickly came back on the screen. He rushed to the back wall and got into a kneeling position. Head bowed and hands facing up, like he had done at the hospital.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door opening and a woman came tumbling into the shot before the door shut again. She was naked and looked young, thin, and beaten. Spencer didn’t react when the woman came in the room but a minute after the door shut Spencer quickly moved to her side.

“What is your name?” Spencer asked. His voice sounded panicked and hoarse. When the woman didn’t answer right away he asked again, “Quickly. We don’t have much time, what is your name. I am Spencer Reid.”

The woman looked at him up and down before quietly saying, “Sara… Sara Hayes… Please help me. I—”

“Shh.. Relax. There isn’t time for that.” Spencer cut the woman off. “You need to listen to me. Do whatever he wants. No matter what it is. Don’t speak unless told, no sounds at all. Don’t even react unless told. You are his property now and you have to listen, or you will die.”

The woman shook her head roughly, “No! I am no one’s property! I—”

Spencer cut her off again, “Quiet!” He said in a whispered yell. “I know that. You just need to act like his property until you get out of here.” A sound could be heard outside the camera’s view and Spencer looked up and off-screen. “Just do what he says, please. It will be okay. If anything happens, I will never forget your name, Sara.” Spencer said quickly before rushing back over to his spot by the wall and getting back into position.

*

“Hold on, pause it.” Rossi said and the agent paused the video. “Does.. Does he seem aware of the fact he isn’t supposed to be someone else’s property right here?”

“I am not sure..” Emily started. “He seems aware of the fact that the woman isn’t supposed to be there at least.”

“He said, ‘You just need to act like his property until you get out of here’.” Hotch said, arms folded and remaining stoic as always. “Maybe he believed that others still had hope, but he was bound to be his forever.”

“Still.. Just the fact that he knew what was happening was wrong for any of the victims is a good sign,” Agent Swann said before nodding to her agent to start the video again.

*

The sound of a door opening again and shutting could be heard off-camera before a man’s voice could be heard, “Hello pets. You two ready for some fun?” A man said as he walked on screen. Tall, short black hair, olive skin. It was Maximillian. Spencer didn’t react to the question, but the woman sat up slightly off the floor and started to mouth off.

“No! I am sick of this!” she yelled. While her actions were admirable, they were also dumb.

Maximillian swung his foot out at her words and kicked her square in the jaw, sending blood flying out of her mouth and her body falling flat to the floor. “Dirty bitch! I should have never bought you. I thought you seeing my other pet would give you some inspiration on how to shut the fuck up and be owned but it looked like that isn’t the case.” Maximillian said before reaching behind himself into the waistband of his dark blue jeans and pulling out a gun.

“No, please. Don’t kill me!” The woman yelled when she saw the gun.

“One last try.” Maximillian said, circling the woman and walking over towards Spencer. He grinned at the position he was in before pushing the gun to his head and saying “Stand.” Spencer didn’t flinch at the cold metal on his temple but instead just stood, keeping his face downcast with a blank expression. “See how this bitch does it. You need to be like him.” He said, moving back over to the woman. He pushed the gun against her head just like he did with Spencer. “Stand.” He said and the woman stood but her face was terrified. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and you could hear her breathing heavily.

Maximillian huffed, moving in front of her but not blocking the camera from seeing her. “Open.” He said, rubbing the barrel of the gun on her lips but she shook her head no. “Wrong choice!” He yelled before a loud bang echoed around the room. He had raised his arm and shot the woman right between the eyes.

Spencer, who was standing behind her but to the side, was sprayed with a mix of blood and brain matter. Still, he didn’t react.

Maximillian watched as the woman’s body fell to the ground. He grabbed her by her hair and dragged the body off-camera, most likely near the door before coming back and cussing about the mess she made and what a waste of money she was.

*

“Pause it.” Swann said and the video was quickly paused. “I think we just need a minute.” Swann said, sitting down in an open chair near her. She worked in human and sex trafficking, not murder. While people they were watching often went missing or were found dead, death was not something she regularly had to deal with or see, so watching a woman be murdered on video was hard for her and her team.

Hotch gazed at the paused video. The image was stuck on a still of Spencer, standing in his black dress, covered in blood and Maximillian a few feet away from him, looking at the blood on the ground and yelling. The murder that just happened on the screen happened so fast that it was hard to process it. Hotch thought about how Spencer didn’t even flinch and wondered how many other murders he had witnessed. “Earlier Spencer said, ‘If anything happens, I will never forget your name, Sara.’ Is Sara Hayes on the list?” Hotch asked, looking over at Emily.

Emily flipped open a case file in front of her, “Sara… Yes, sir. Sara Hayes is on here and next to her name is the word dead.”

Rossi looked between the two other profilers, “You don’t think he personally witnessed every person he put ‘dead’ next to do you? You would think he would have brought up watching 32 murders.”

“We didn’t ask..” Swann said from her chair.

Hotch nodded, “He has only shared information when asked.. Where is the crime scene report?” Hotch asked and Emily reached over to hand him the file. He flipped through it before saying, “They found high levels of bleach and cleaning products but no blood in Spencer’s room.” Hotch pulled out a few photos of Spencer’s room at the estate and studied them. The room was basically a sex dungeon on one side and a bedroom on the other. The space in between was mostly empty and was also the area that was on the video right now. “What is that?” Hotch asked when he saw a small circle on the floor in the picture near the sex dungeon half of the room.

Emily got up and looked at the picture. “A drain.”

“That isn’t a good sign..” Rossi huffed.

The room grew silent again as everyone thought about just how many murders this boy might have witnessed. Also about the fact that Spencer took the few minutes he had alone with the woman to instruct her on how to not be killed and to ask her name so she wouldn’t be forgotten.

After a few minutes, Swann said, “Okay. Let’s finish this. Play it.”

*

Spencer stood there unmoving as Maximillian yelled before he turned his attention back on Spencer. He walked over and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, smearing the blood that was there. “You really are to blame you know. How am I supposed to find someone else who can follow orders like you? The perfect piece of property.” Maximillian almost sounded sweet and caring before he reached back into his waistband and pulled the gun back out, rubbing it on his lips like he did with the woman. “Open.”

Spencer immediately opened his mouth and Maximillian pressed the barrel of the gun firmly into his mouth. “Look at me.” He said and Spencer made direct eye contact with the man before he cocked the gun. “You know I could kill you right now and you couldn’t do anything to stop me.” He said with a chuckle, but Spencer still didn’t move. Finally, Maximillian took the gun out of his mouth, pressed the hammer back up and put it in his pocket.

He backed up some and looked Spencer over, “Looks like you got blood on your dress. I’ll just have to take it off you.” He said, walking behind Spencer and unzipping the dress. He unhooked the leather strap on his left wrist to allow the dress off of his arms before putting the handcuff back on. The dress fell to the floor and Maximillian kicked it away before bringing is attention to the pair of red lace panties Spencer was wearing. The women’s underwear barely held Spencer’s manhood. Maximillian looked at Spencer in the panties and laughed. “Sissy bitch.” He said before peeling the panties off of the young man as well.

Maximillian walked off-camera for a few minutes as Spencer stood as still as a statue, completely naked except for the spray of blood left on his skin, his collar, and his handcuffs. When Maximillian came back he was holding a lube glistened black butt plug. “I’m thinking about letting you cum today.” He said and Spencer’s eyes widen for a split second before his face went blank again. “How many days has it been since I have allowed you to cum?” He asked before saying, “Answer.”

“21 days,” Spencer said quickly

“And how many times have I edged you? Answer.”

“33 times.”

Maximillian laughed. “That’s because you are mine. Everything about you, even your pleasure, is mine. You are lucky I let you cum at all. Property shouldn’t be allowed to orgasm.” He said, walking around to the back of Spencer. “Hold yourself open.” He said and Spencer followed his order. Grabbing his ass and spreading himself for his abuser.

The camera did not get a good view of what he was doing but it wasn’t hard to guess. He was rubbing the butt plug on his rim before roughly shoving it in. Spencer’s face tensed up for just a moment before a small buzz could be heard in the room. The plug was vibrating, and Spencer was struggling to keep a blank face as the stimulus, wanted or not, was causing sparks throughout his body and causing his cock to quickly harden.

Maximillian laughed again. “Don’t cum.” He said before moving in front of Spencer, unbuttoning his own jeans, and saying, “Knees.” Once Spencer was on his knees, partly kneeling in the pool of blood, he took his cock out of his jeans and said, “Get to work.” And Spencer did just that. He didn’t wait a moment before licking a long strip on the underside of the cock in front of him before taking it all the way in his mouth.

Maximillian started to let out throaty moans as Spencer worked dutifully on his owner’s cock. Swirling his tongue around the tip, licking up beads of pre-cum before taking him deep into his throat, swallowing around his cock as if he had done this hundreds of times, which he might have. Spencer’s own cock was starting to leak onto the floor under him from the constant vibrations on his prostate. Pre-cum mixed with the blood under his knees, creating an even more sickening sight. After a few minutes Maximillian’s moans were picking up and he was close to finishing but instead, he said, “Hands and knees.”

Spencer stopped giving oral and quickly moved to his hands and knees, arching his back, and spreading his legs. The camera angle mostly got his side profile. Maximillian wasted no time, roughly pulling out the butt plug and replacing it with his own large cock. Spencer whimpered slightly before Maximillian started brutally pounding into his thin body. His movements were growing faster and more erratic as he was close to orgasm but before he came he grabbed Spencer by the hair, pulling him upwards, back to Maximillian’s chest. Then he said, “Cum, bitch.”

At that Spencer let his mouth fall open and a few moans slip out before he was orgasming. Ropes of cum falling to the bloody floor underneath him as Maximillian tensed up and let out a loud grunt, shooting his cum deep inside his prisoner. He pulled out of Spencer quickly, causing cum to leak out of him and down his pale thigh. Then he got up and used his foot to shove Spencer on the ground, having him land in a mixture of cum and someone else’s blood. “What a sissy fag! Cumming just from my cock in your ass. Pathetic!” Maximillian yelled with a smirk on his face. “Now what do you say? Speak.”

“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much,” Spencer said, still laying on the ground and slightly out of breath.

“Good. Now I am going to go take care of that waste of money’s body. You turn the video off and clean this up then you can rest until dinner.” He said, looking almost caring again before leaving off camera. A dragging could be heard before the door opened and closed. The second the door closed Spencer broke down in silent sobs. His whole body shook as he laid on the floor, curling up into the fetal position. A minute went by before Spencer got up and turned off the video, still actively crying.

*

The video ended but no one moved. Most of the agents had their hands over their mouths while several looked teary-eyed. One of Swann’s agents had tears streaming down their face. Hotch couldn’t keep his stone-faced expression either. He felt incredibly sad and angry for Spencer. The fact that this was only one video, less than an hour worth of evidence of what happened over the eight years he was with Maximillian, just made it so much worse. Hotch looked over at Rossi, who looked surprisingly upset as well, as if the older, seasoned, agent was going to break down himself.

Finally, someone said, “I think this is enough evidence to prove he wasn’t an accomplice.”

No one could bear to look up to see who spoke.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few hours went painfully slow until it was time for dinner. The nurses came by and checked on Spencer a few times but other than that, the three just sat and watched TV. Sometimes Spencer would rant on about facts about whatever they were watching. He sounded like he was quoting an encyclopedia, but he looked so happy while doing it that the two profilers let him rant as much as he would let himself.

This time JJ called down to the cafeteria to have their meals sent up as Spencer didn’t want either profiler to leave him. Morgan went over the available meal choices several times with Spencer, trying to get him to branch out to something he was comfortable with but in the end, they decided that white rice, brown gravy, and boiled chicken was as much as he could handle.

Even after the food was delivered, Spencer still looked terrified that he would get in trouble for eating. He warmed up slowly, eating the rice and gravy and about one-third of his chicken, moaning around his bites as he did at lunch. Even JJ looked uncomfortable listening to Spencer eat but she loved seeing him so happy. Morgan had to put his headphones on to prevent himself from getting a hard-on from Spencer’s shameless moaning as he ate his own plate of hospital food.

Shortly after their meal trays were taken back by a staff member, the other half of the BAU team and Agent Swann came back. They filed in, finding seats, and getting out case files or notepads. Before they got started, Hotch called JJ and Morgan outside.

“What’s up, Hotch?” Morgan asked once they were in the hall.

While it was hard to tell, the two profilers could see that Hotch looked exhausted. “We started working on the list of names Spencer gave us. Several names matched missing person’s reports and found bodies, so we know he was telling the truth about the names.” Hotch paused for a minute. “Garcia also was able to recover several hours of video files. Two agents on Swann’s team have been going through them but one video we all watched… In short, Maximillian murdered a woman in front of Spencer, and we have reason to believe that it wasn’t a onetime thing.”

“What? You think he made Spence watch the murders of other human trafficking victims?” JJ asked.

“I am not sure. We are going to ask him now, I just wanted to give you two a heads up.” Hotch said, turning to head back in the room but Morgan stopped him.

“What else was on the video?” Morgan asked.

Hotch shook his head, “You don’t want to know..”

“Garcia sent me the first video she found.” Morgan started, “It was horrible. Spencer did everything that bastard said, and he raped him.. I couldn’t finish it.”

Hotch sighed, “Well.. then you really don’t want to know..” Hotch said, heading back inside the room without another word.

Once everyone was back in and settled, Swann started. “It’s nice to see you again, Spencer.”

“Thank you, ma’am. You as well.” Spencer said. He was clearly tired, despite resting most of the day.

Swann smiled warmly at the young man sitting in the hospital bed, trying not to think about the graphic rape and murder she had just witnessed through video. “We only have a few more questions today and then we are going to let you rest. First, I wanted to let you know we are going through the lists you gave us, and we have already confirmed several names and will be informing their families.. Giving them much needed closure thanks to you.” Spencer grinned slightly to himself but didn’t say anything.

Swann grabbed her notepad and pen, “Speaking of lists. I was wondering if you were able to write down the names of anyone else you saw at Maximillian’s estate and if you could write what they did next to their name.” Spencer nodded, taking the notepad and pen. He started to write but a minute later Morgan, who was still sitting next to Spencer’s hospital bed and had a good view of the paper, noticed that he was still on the first name.

“Kid, what’s up? What’s taking so long?” Morgan asked.

Spencer looked over at Morgan, “I am sorry, what do you mean? It is taking me some time to list everything they did.”

Morgan furrowed his brow. “Can you read what you have so far?”

Spencer nodded, “James Fowler, fucked me in the a—”

“Woah, I don’t think Agent Swann needs all that,” Morgan said, cutting Spencer off.

“Yes, Spencer. If you could just write if they.. used you, if they were there for business with Maximillian or if they were staff.” Swann said and Spencer started writing again. A few minutes later he handed the list back to Swann. There were at least 40 people on the list, the names were mixed between ‘staff’ and ‘business with _him_ ’ while several had the words ‘used me’ next to their name. “Thank you,” Swann said, looking at the list before tucking it under her case file. “Can you tell me why you don’t call Maximillian by his name?”

Spencer tilted his head slightly, “ _He_ told me not too. That I was not to address _him_ by any name or title as I was too worthless to address _him_ at all. I was not permitted to speak unless told, so it was an easy rule to follow.” He said flatly.

“You aren’t worthless, Spence,” JJ said from her chair next to Morgan.

“Okay..” Spencer said looking down at his lap. His eyes were starting to grow distant again, so Swann hurried along.

“You are doing great, Spencer. I have one more question then I am going to let you be for the night, okay?” Swann said and Spencer nodded his head but didn’t look up. Swann took a deep breath. “You remember the list you made of other people that were owned by Maximillian?” Spencer nodded again. “Do—Did you witness any of their deaths?”

Spencer’s eyes went wide before he squeezed them closed and tears started to run down his cheeks. He took a strangled breath and nodded his head yes.

“Okay.. It’s okay. You marked 32 out of the 46 names as dead. How many of those people were killed in front of you at the estate?” Swann asked softly. The whole room was holding their breath.

“Of the names listed… 29.”

 _Holy shit.. 29 people were murdered in front of this kid.. Wait.._ Morgan thought before asking, “You said ‘of the names listed’… Were there others that you didn’t list?”

Spencer nodded, tears still running down his face. “Not all of them would tell me their name…” A sob broke from Spencer’s lips, “I tried… I begged them to listen… To tell me their names but they wouldn’t! They just needed to try!” Spencer started saying loudly between sobs. He buried his face in his hands and curled into a ball on the bed, crying and wailing loudly. Morgan and JJ both got up and tried to comfort the young man while the rest of the agents discreetly got up and left.

They all went outside the room, shutting the door behind them and standing near the window looking into the room. No one really had anything to say. Swann said something about seeing them tomorrow morning and Emily followed behind her but Rossi and Hotch continued to watch the young man sob from the window.

“I get it now..” Rossi said quietly, getting Hotch’s attention. “I get why you all have gotten so attached to him. There is just.. something”

“Yeah. We don’t know what, but we already feel close to him.” Hotch said

“Why don’t you take him in?” Rossi asked. There was a hint of sarcasm in the question, but he was also being serious.

Hotch shook his head, “I can’t.. Jack. He stays at my place on the weekends and while I doubt anything would happen, I can’t have him around Spencer. I know JJ or Morgan would take him in in a heartbeat but they both have one-bedroom apartments. Emily and Garcia as well.”

Rossi grew quiet, watching the scene in the room, for several minutes before finally saying, “I will take him.”

“What Dave?” Hotch asked. He was sure he heard him wrong.

“Don’t get me wrong. I am not doing it alone. Someone else will have to stay to watch him but I have plenty of space. Enough for everyone if you all wanted to stay.” Rossi said, turning to look at Hotch.

“Wow… That is not like you. Are you sure?”

“It’s not forever but just until you all find something better and more permanent. Plus, I want to see what that kid has to say about the Scarsdale Skinner case.” Rossi said with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry XD I wasn't going to add the video scene but I just love torturing Spencer.  
> Let me know what you think!  
> Comment, Kudos and Sub, pleaseeeee :D


	7. Baths and Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: rape, torture, the usual for this fic.

Morgan and JJ spent the night in the hospital with Spencer. They were originally going to only have one agent spend the night with him but neither JJ nor Morgan wanted to leave. They were still debating about both staying the night but when they told Spencer that they both might be staying, the bright smile on his face made up their minds for them.

The hospital provided one cot per room for overnight visitors, which Morgan gave to JJ to sleep on, stating that he was too large to fit on it properly anyway. Morgan slept right next to Spencer in the chair he had been sitting in all day, despite Spencer offering his own bed several times. Finally, Morgan gave in and rested his legs on the edge of Spencer’s bed, in some sort of compromise. His legs were quickly replaced by his torso as he crossed his arms and rested his head on Spencer’s bed, as one would do while sleeping at a desk, after one too many nightmares from the young man.

Blood-curdling screams from Spencer woke JJ and Morgan up multiple times throughout the night but when they tried to calm him down, he would cry and beg for forgiveness for waking them up.

Morning came too soon. JJ and Morgan looked groggy and worn down while Spencer looked like he had the best sleep he had gotten in years. The agents took turns freshening up in the bathroom connected to Spencer’s hospital rooms while the other ate breakfast and sat with Spencer. They were grateful that Emily had brought their go-bags by after Swann’s questioning the night before so that they could shower and change their clothes.

JJ went first and then Morgan. As he stepped out of the bathroom, freshly showered and in new clothes, he noticed Spencer sitting on the bed staring off. He was still in the baggy purple t-shirt and black boxer briefs and his hair was looking a bit dirty and in need of a good brushing. Morgan noticed that the only things that Spencer would do without asking or being told was crying, sleeping, and using the bathroom, even though he left the door open.

“Hey, kid,” Morgan said, putting his go-bag next to his chair.

Spencer double blinked back to reality and looked up, “Yes, sir?”

“Do you want to take a shower now? Maybe change your clothes? Hotch said he found somewhere for you and he will be by soon.” Morgan said, shooting a look over to JJ, who shrugged her shoulders. While Rossi had decided the Spencer would stay at his place, he still had to get it approved by Strauss, so Hotch didn’t tell them the plan just in case it fell through.

Spencer nodded his head and started to climb out of bed, “Sure. I would be more than grateful to take a shower with you.”

Morgan looked a little shocked, “Woah, woah kid. I meant _you_ take a shower. You know, by yourself.”

“Oh.. I—uhh…” Spencer stuttered out before just bowing his head.

“What is it, Spence?” JJ asked from her seat next to Spencer’s bed, opposite Morgan’s.

Spencer started to blush. “I just… _He_ didn’t let me shower or bathe alone. I had to be helped by _him,_ a male staff member, or one of _his_ male friends…”

“We don’t have that rule. You can shower or bathe alone anytime you need, okay?” JJ said gently but Spencer still looked upset.

“It’s just… Okay.. I will. Thank you.” Spencer said quietly, standing up and starting to move to the bathroom. He was starting to shake.

“Hold up, you look scared. What is it?” Morgan asked

“You can tell us anything, Spence. We won’t get upset and you won’t get in trouble.” JJ added.

Spencer looked between the two profilers, like he was trying to figure out if they were telling the truth. After a moment he sighed and looked down before talking, “Well once… I was used a lot by _him_ and two of _his_ friends. It was rougher than normal. I think _he_ was having a bad day.. But when they were done they left me in my room like normal, but I was covered in cum and lube and some blood.. Normally _he_ , or a male staff member, would bathe me when I got that dirty after being used but no one came back.. It was strange but the bathroom was right there… and I wasn’t chained to anything, just handcuffed… so…” Spencer stopped and looked up at JJ and Morgan.

“It’s okay, keep going.” JJ softly nudged him on despite the fact that they both hated hearing about what he was talking about.

“Well… I figured it would be okay if I rinsed off really quick..” Spencer said, his voice started to waver and sound more innocent and childlike. “But once I got in the shower, _he_ came back. _He_ was screaming at me.. I messed up so I deserved to be punished.”

JJ and Morgan wanted to stop him right there. Tell him that he didn’t deserve to be punished for just washing himself after being raped by three men, but they just let him continue as they could see he needed to get it out.

“ _He_ dragged me out of the shower by my hair, strapped me to the standing X-cross, and put a towel over my head.. I heard him get the hose I used to clean the floor and.. then it was cold. So cold.. _He_ was spraying me with the water for so long.. _He_ sprayed my face until I couldn’t breathe but would stop right before I passed out… I lost track of time and when I thought my punishment was almost over… _He_ …” Spencer stopped for a moment as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

JJ got up with a tissue and wiped his face for him, giving him a reassuring look, “You are safe here. It’s okay. What did he do?” JJ reluctantly asked.

Spencer took a few deep breaths before continuing, “ _He_ put the nozzle in me.. in my.. in my hole and.. and the water was too fast. It hurt so much, and it was too cold…” At this point Spencer was crying roughly, covering his face with his hands. JJ and Morgan were so engrossed with the horrors of the story Spencer was telling, neither one noticed Rossi nor Hotch standing in the open doorway.

No one expected Spencer to keep going but he did after a few harsh sobs. “I wasn’t supposed to talk.. I knew that but I couldn’t help it… I begged and screamed for _him_ to stop but _he_ didn’t… not right away at least… and then _he_ made me hold it… all that water… I knew I deserved it, but it hurt so much… I was so sorry… Then _he_ undid my ankle restraints, lifted me up and fucked me right there on the X-cross with the water still in me… I accidentally passed out at some point… _He_ kept me on the X-cross naked and wet for about 24 hours…”

JJ slowly reached up and wiped Spencer’s face again before he finished his story. “When it was over.. There was so much blood.. He couldn’t use my ass for several weeks.. I thought… I thought he was going to get rid of me for being too damaged… I was so scared… I—Don’t get rid of me.. Please! Even if I get damaged during a punishment. Please keep me!” Spencer started begging.

Morgan almost started crying himself. It occurred to him why Spencer was telling them that story. _Holy shit.. he isn’t scared of being punished, he is scared of being punished to the point that he is no longer useful and he thinks we would get rid of him for being damaged…_ Morgan thought to himself before walking up to Spencer, “Listen, Spencer. We aren’t going to punish you and we aren’t going to get rid of you, okay?” Spencer nodded his head but continued to cry quietly, with his face downcast. “Hey, do you want me or JJ to help you in the shower? Or I could get a nurse instead if you want.”

Spencer looked up at Morgan, looking a little happier. “Will you? Please?”

Morgan couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at how much happier the boy seemed at the offer of being helped in the shower. “Sure thing, Pretty Boy,” Morgan said, grabbing the shopping bag from the side of the bed and following Spencer to the bathroom. Before he got in he noticed Hotch and Rossi at the doorway. “Oh hey.”

“Do you two need any help?” Hotch offered, feeling even more protective of the young genius after overhearing the story he just told.

“Nah, I’m just gonna sit in there with him so he knows we are allowing him to shower,” Morgan said, looking over at Spencer who had spaced out again.

“Alright. We will be right out here.” Hotch said sternly and Morgan went all the way into the bathroom and shut the door.

Morgan looked at Spencer, his eyes were distant, and he was blankly looking at the shower. _I need to talk to Hotch about how often the kid does this.._ Morgan thought before clearing his throat. “Hey, you ready?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes sir.” Spencer said, snapping out of his daze.

Morgan reached over and turned the water on, making sure the water was warm. “It’s all ready for you. I am going to turn around so you can get undressed and get in.” Morgan moved over to the toilet, shut the lid, and sat down, facing the wall but after a minute, he didn’t hear Spencer move. “Spencer, you need to get undressed and get in the shower now.” He said, trying not to sound too bossy but figuring he needed a direct order.

Morgan heard Spencer start to move and get under the water but then he stilled again. Morgan finally realized that he probably hadn’t been allowed to shower without assistance in eight years, so he had to walk Spencer through every step of his shower.

From outside of the shower curtain Morgan walked Spencer through washing his hair and body. Morgan wasn’t sure if Spencer really didn’t know or if he was just conditioned into not doing anything without being told. Either way, he told him to turn the water off, towel off, and gave step by step orders on getting dressed.

When Morgan turned around he smiled at the sight in front of him. Spencer was wearing a light blue t-shirt, a pair of gray lounge pants that were a bit snug but still fit, mismatched socks and a pair of slides. His hazel eyes were shining brightly, and his lips were curled in a childish smile, as if he was proud of showering and getting dressed alone. His long hair was a tangled mess and still dripping water on his shirt, but Morgan found everything about him beautiful.

Once they left the bathroom, JJ stopped them. “Oh Spence, let me brush your hair for you,” JJ said, pulling her brush out of her go bag and patting the chair she had been sitting in. Spencer smiled and sat down. He let out an approving hum when JJ started to brush his long, wet hair. “I don’t think I have ever seen a man with hair this long, do you like it long?”

“ _He_ liked it long because it makes me look more like a woman,” Spencer said plainly, closing his eyes and relaxing under the brush running through his hair.

“But do _you_ like it?” JJ asked again.

“Hmm.. I think. It has been long for years.. I have no qualms about cutting it short though if that is what you prefer.”

“Oh.. no sweetie. This is your hair. We wouldn’t have it cut unless you wanted it cut.” JJ said but Spencer just stayed quiet. “Okay, all done.” Spencer’s hair was brushed down, but the wet ends were already starting to curl back up.

“Thank you, JJ.”

Hotch stepped forward, looking as if he were about to talk before the doctor and nurse came in. They quickly checked his vitals and cleared him for discharge. “Agent Hotchner, I need you to sign this statement that he is being released into the care of the FBI.” The doctor said. Hotch read over the paper before signing it. “I trust you all found a place for him?”

Hotch glared at the doctor, “Yes. He will be staying with us at Agent Rossi’s house”

“What? Really?” Morgan asked. He wasn’t sure what Hotch had planned but that was the last thing he was expecting. Morgan looked over at Rossi in shock and Rossi just smirked, nodding his head.

Spencer waited until the doctor and nurse left before speaking, “I can’t believe it… I am going to be staying with David Rossi. Do.. hmm… Do you have any books?”

Rossi chuckled, “I have a huge library, kid. You can read as much as you want.”

Spencer’s eyes went wide, and he bounced slightly in his seat, “Wow! Thank you! Thank you so much.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the ride to Rossi’s was only about 35 minutes long, it felt like hours. Spencer was on the verge of having a panic attack the whole ride. He made a comment about how he wasn’t allowed outside the gates of the estate since he came on, about eight years ago. So, his panic made sense. The outside world was a lot to take in and they weren’t sure what kind of live he led before he was bought by Maximillian. Agent Swann had told them that she was waiting for someone from the Crimes Against Children Unit to sit in on that interview about what he went through before Maximillian, as he was 12 to 17.

Hotch pulled up to Rossi’s house and Spencer looked amazed. He had been sitting between JJ and Morgan in the back seat with his legs tucked under his shirt again, but he uncurled once they pulled up. He held JJ’s hand as she quickly escorted him inside.

“Wow.. You have a beautiful home, sir!” Spencer said to Rossi once he stepped inside. He toed his shoes off at the door without being told and let his eyes wander around the space.

“Thanks, kid. Your room is up those stairs” Rossi said, pointing to the grand staircase by the door, “Come on. Bring your stuff.” Spencer skipped slightly to the stairs, taking one at a time as he followed behind Rossi, who led the group up the stairs before stopping at one of the many closed doors. “This is your room, Spencer. Go ahead.”

Spencer opened the door slowly before stepping in and looking around. It was one of the more modest guest rooms in Rossi’s mansion. The room was a strange mix between antique and modern. The walls were a deep olive green, but the ceiling was white and there was an oversized window letting in plenty of natural light, so the dark paint didn’t darken the room. The floors were a dark stained wood but the furniture in the room was an antique wood. There was a dresser, a small bookshelf with a few forgotten books, a queen bed with crisp white sheets, and a nightstand with a small lamp with a stained-glass lamp shade.

He looked around the room but looked confused. “What is it, Spencer?” Hotch asked.

“I—I love it… It’s just… Where are my restraints? Or the sex toys?” Spencer asked hesitantly as he looked around the corners of the room, as if he was fully expecting to spot chains for him to be hooked too.

“You will not be restrained in my house,” Rossi said firmly. Spencer looked confused still so Rossi added, “One of my rules is no restraints of any kind. You are permitted to go anywhere in the house that has an open door. You can shower and use the bathroom whenever you need. That door there.” Rossi pointed at a door at the far end of the room, “has a stand-up shower, toilet and sink for you. Also, we will not be using any.. sex toys on you or asking you to use them on yourself so that is not needed.” Rossi said in a commanding tone so there was no misunderstanding.

Spencer, understanding that these were rules and orders to follow, nodded his head eagerly. “Yes sir. Of course. Thank you so much. May I ask, is this room soundproofed?”

This time, the four profilers looked confused. “Why would you need the room to be soundproofed?” Hotch asked

“So, I do not disturb others if I scream.”

JJ looked a little sick, “Spence.. Why would you scream?”

“I have been told I scream in my sleep often and _he_ didn’t like to hear me screaming when I was with one of _his_ friends that didn’t like me being quiet like _he_ did. So.. If your friends—”

Hotch quickly cut Spencer off, “No, Spencer. The room is not soundproofed because it is not needed. If you have a nightmare then we will help you and no one..” Hotch paused on the words, moving in front of Spencer and lifting his chin so that Spencer made direct eye contact. “No one will be using you for sex here, okay? If anyone tries to have sex with you, I don’t care who it is, you tell me right away. No exceptions.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.. Thank you all..” Spencer said with a bright smile. He still looked slightly confused but he had orders and he was told he needed to follow what the team said so that is what he was going to do.

JJ took his shopping bag of clothes and slid them into the top drawer before Rossi led them out of the room for a tour of the whole house, making sure to tell Spencer little rules about everything. Such as he could get water or food whenever he needed or he was free to watch the TV in the living room or he could go into the back yard whenever he wanted during daylight but for the time being he was not allowed to be in the pool alone or outside at night alone. The last part of the tour was Rossi’s library.

As soon as the door opened Spencer’s mouth fell open. The library was large, with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a few reading chairs and a desk at the far wall with a smaller bookshelf behind it. “This, Spencer, is the library and you are free to read as much as you want. I just ask you don’t take the books that are behind my desk out of the room, they are my personal collection while the rest came with the house when I bought it.”

A few tears fell out of Spencer’s eyes, “Thank you.” He said before a sob escaped his lips. “I am so grateful… So grateful.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spencer spent the rest of the morning until the afternoon in the library, stopping only when told to eat lunch and to use the restroom. The team knew he supposedly could read 20,000 words per minute, but it is one thing to be told that and a different thing entirely to see it. For the first 10 minutes after they showed Spencer the library and he started to read, Morgan, Hotch, Rossi and JJ just stood around watching him in amazement. His eyes scanned the words, quickly darting side to side while his fingers ran down the pages and his lips moved slightly as if he were reading out loud.

As the hours went by the stack of books around him grew. Morgan and JJ went back to their places to pack another go bag as they were both going to spend a few days with Rossi. Emily and Garcia were coming by for dinner as they were working on the Maximillian case throughout the day, but they weren’t sure if they were going to spend the night yet. Hotch planned to spend the first night over, but he had Jack for two days after that.

Just as Morgan was walking through Rossi’s front door with his stuff, Hotch’s phone rang.

“Hotchner… Really?... Yeah, okay. I will be there soon.” Hotch said before he hung up.

“What’s up, Hotch?” Morgan asked, overhearing the conversation as he walked into the living room where Hotch and Rossi had been sitting.

“Hmm.. Apparently they have located a few of the people off the list Spencer made. He marked them as ‘sold’. One victim lives in the area is heading to the BAU for an interview now. I am going to meet Agent Swann there now.” Hotch said, pocketing his cell phone and heading for the door.

“Wow, that’s great, Aaron. See you later.” Rossi said but before Hotch could leave he heard a light patter of socks on the hardwood. Hotch turned back around to see Spencer cautiously coming around the corner of the library door. “Hey, Spencer. Everything okay?”

“You are leaving?” Spencer asked, looking a little sad as he walked further into the living room. He did the same thing when JJ and Morgan left.

“Yes. I have to go into work for a bit, but I will be back by dinner, okay?” Hotch said and Spencer nodded, looking down at his mismatched socks. “Listen, they found someone from your list. Do you remember Don Garza?”

Spencer nodded, “Is he alive?”

“Yes. He escaped during transport a little over a year ago after Maximillian sold him.” Hotch said and Spencer let out a giggle and smiled devilishly. Hotch took a guess as to why Spencer reacted that way, “Did you help him escape in some way?”

Immediately Spencer’s smile flew off his face and he looked terrified. “No, Master Aaron! Of course not! I—I would never!”

“Shh..” Hotch stepped forward and carefully put his hand on Spencer’s shoulder, ignoring the flinch he made. “It’s okay. We would never get mad at you for helping someone else.”

Spencer’s chin quivered, “But I—”

“Hush. I know. It’s okay. Please get some water and head on back to the library. I will see you soon.” Hotch said patting the top of Spencer’s head in a caring, fatherly manner.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Hotch got to the BAU, he could already see Swann, Emily, a young man, and an older woman sitting in the conference room. “Hello, I am Agent Hotchner,” Hotch said walking into the conference room. He reached out to shake the young man’s hand, but he flinched away. He was an average build and height, had dark black hair, and was holding himself tightly in his overly baggy clothing.

“S-sorry..” He said quietly but Hotch wasn’t bothered, he just took a seat next to Swann. Emily walked over to the older woman, saying something about getting coffee, before they left the room.

“That was Mrs. Garza, Don’s mom.” Swann said before turning back to the young man, “Don’t worry Don, she is just in the other room. Let’s get started.” Don nodded. “You already told us about where you were before Maximillian so don’t worry about that. What can you tell me about your stay with Maximillian?”

“I—I wasn’t there long.. He…” Don trailed off.

“Take your time,” Swann reassured him.

“He kept me in a dark and cold room for days… and he raped me… He would scream and hurt me for every little thing. I didn’t understand it…”

“Did you see anyone else while you were there?” Hotch asked.

“Mm-hmm.. One boy. He told me his name… uhh… Sven.. No…”

“Spencer?” Hotch interjected.

“Yes, that was it. On the second or third day after I got there, I guess I kept messing up because Maximillian kept hitting me. I didn’t get what I was doing wrong but he unchained me from the wall and threw me in a room down the hall. The room was horrible.. It smelt like sex and blood and I looked over to the wall… and there he was… kneeling on the floor, completely naked except for a collar and chain… He….” Don stopped again.

“You are doing great, keep it up,” Swann said.

“He was completely still for a minute after the door shut and then he jumped up and ran over to me.. He told me his name and asked me mine, but I just started begging him to let me out. I don’t even know why… He was kept there too… But he looked panicked, saying he didn’t have time for all that, so I told him my name. He started telling me what I needed to do to live. That I had to not react at all to what Maximillian did and I couldn’t make any noise. I don’t know why but I trusted him. He said to copy what he did..”

Don took a deep breath before continuing, “Then the Max guy came back, and the boy kneeled against the wall again, so I kneeled in my spot. Maximillian was screaming, saying disgusting things, waving his gun around and Spencer didn’t move, so I didn’t either. It was working. He called me a good pet… But then…. He.. Uh…..” Don stopped, looking sick.

“What did he have you do, Don?” Swann nudged.

Don looked down at the table and hugged himself tighter. “He—He made me… rape that boy… I told him no! But I looked over at Spencer and it was like he was telling me to do it with his eyes so I… I did it… And Spencer…. He was so caring… He even…” Don started to fidget in his seat. “You know… put his mouth on me to make sure I was… Hard and could do what Max told me too… He didn’t move or scream or anything… and I know it had to hurt…”

“It’s okay,” Hotch said. “You were forced into doing that. You were both raped. Besides, Spencer doesn’t look at that as rape.”

Don’s eyes went wide, “He is alive?”

Hotch nodded, “Yes, he was found a few days ago when there was a raid of Maximillian’s estate.”

“You mean he was still there? How did he survive him?” Don asked but it was more a question to himself.

“He was there for about eight years,” Hotch said and Don’s mouth flew open. “Also, when you saw him he was 24, not a kid. He is just thin with a childlike disposition.”

“Oh, thank God… This whole time I thought I raped a minor…” Don huffed out.

“What happened next?” Swann asked.

“The guy told me to help Spencer take a bath. He took his collar off and put ankle cuffs on him before saying that he would be back in a few minutes.. I helped Spencer to the bath and once the water turned on Spencer started telling me about what would most likely happen next.. that I most likely would be sold again.. Telling me about the different buyers and what they looked like and how to escape from a few…. I was lucky. The man that bought me was one of the men that Spencer told me what I needed to do to escape… I still don’t know how he knew…”

“What did he tell you?” Swann asked, writing down notes on her note pad.

“He said that if I was bought by the balding, fat white man with the scar on his left eyebrow that once I was in the car with him and we had traveled a few miles, I needed to make a reason to stop somewhere. That he was a germophobe with OCD. That I could blow my nose on my hand, vomit, pee myself, literally anything. I ended up peeing myself and he started gagging and yelling. He had his driver pull over at the next gas station. He uncuffed me to take me inside but once I stepped out of the car, I ran like hell. His fat self couldn’t get me, and the driver didn’t care. I lost track of how long I ran but I didn’t know my way back… I couldn’t tell the police anything to help them find Spencer…” Don was starting to cry.

Hotch tried to calm him down, “You did what you had to do, and Spencer is free now. That is what is important.”

“He… He saved my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think :D   
> Kudos, comment, and sub, pleassseeeee


	8. Bitter and Salty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Gay slurs, Rape  
> ** means the start and end of a flashback, can be skipped if needed.

Hotch drove Emily and Garcia to Rossi’s for dinner after he finished the interview with Don Garza. Everyone was tired so the car ride was quiet until they were almost at Rossi’s and Garcia’s phone went off. She made a “Hmmm…” sound as she read the message, causing Emily to look back to the back seat where she was sitting.

“What is it, PG?” She asked.

“I just got an email from a member of Agent Swann’s team. They found another person off Spencer’s list marked as ‘Sold’ alive. That makes nine out of the fourteen on the list.” Garcia said, sounding shocked.

“Wow.. How did more than half of the victims that survived escape? That doesn’t make any sense..” Emily said as Hotch pulled into Rossi’s driveway.

Hotch didn’t turn the car off right away though, “Don Garza told me that Spencer helped him escape.”

“What? How?” Emily asked

Hotch leaned back in the driver’s seat, “He told him what he needed to do to get Maximillian’s approval and once he did, Maximillian left for a few minutes and Spencer apparently told him everything he knew about who might be buying him next and how to escape them. Don followed everything Spencer said and got out. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened with the other eight.”

“That is incredible!” Garcia said, “We have to go tell him that they found another person! He will be so happy!” Garcia reached for her doorknob but was stopped by Hotch.

“Hold on,” He said, and Garcia froze. “Let’s not mention it yet. When I brought Don Garza up to Spencer, he smiled when I told him he got free but when I asked him if he helped, he started to panic.”

“Seems right..” Emily said while nodding her head, but Garcia looked confused.

Hotch caught a glimpse of Garcia in the rear-view mirror. “Spencer doesn’t really trust us yet. While he does seem genuinely happy to be around us and sad when we leave, his movements and actions are very cautious. It is to be expected though.. From what he has said, Maximillian would trick him often in order to punish him and show dominance.”

“Poor little pumpkin.. He had to go through so much but still, he tried to help people..” Garcia said, looking sad.

“That’s another thing,” Hotch said, turning around to look at Garcia in the back seat. “Spencer went through a lot and he has been randomly telling us about it, which is good. But if at any point he starts to talk about something that you find upsetting, you are welcome to excuse yourself.” Hotch gave Garcia a small smile. While Garcia did her job flawlessly, they all knew that she was not a profiler or a hardened FBI agent.

The three agents made their way inside after Morgan opened the door. The house smelt like pasta, cheese, and wine. Rossi was in the kitchen making dinner. “Hey, Morgan,” Hotch said once they stepped inside. “Where is—” He said but his words were cut off by the familiar sound of socks on hardwood floors and his question was answered before he even asked.

Around the doorway came a happy looking Spencer Reid. “You are back! I missed you, Master Aaron!” Spencer said as he got closer to Hotch, but he stopped halfway to the door when he spotted Garcia. He immediately stopped talking, kneeled on the floor, bowed his head, and rested his hands upwards on his thighs.

“Stand back up, Spencer.” Hotch said. It was an order, but it was said with care. Spencer did what he said but kept his head down. “Look at me, please.” Hotch waited for Spencer to look up before continuing, “Good, thank you. This is Penelope Garcia. She is the last member of the team.”

Spencer’s eyes went wide, and he looked happy again. “Wow. It’s nice to meet you, Miss Penelope! I can’t believe I have so many owners. This is so great!”

Garcia was aware of the situation, but she was still a little surprised. She had never been called someone else’s owner and the thought made her feel a little sick. “Hey, sweetie. I am happy to meet you.” She said quieter than she normally spoke and with a sad smile.

Spencer looked confused for a moment, “Are you upset, Miss Penelope? Can I serve you in some way?”

“No, I am not upset, Sugar. Why would you think that?”

Spencer looked over at Hotch, as if he were asking for permission to explain it. Hotch did a small nod, and Spencer started. “Your smile. You used your risorius muscles to pull your lips into the right shape, but your orbicularis oculi did not contract as well.. Meaning it was a fake smile. Also,” Spencer looked Garcia, who was wearing one of her bright colored dresses and shoes, up and down before continuing, “Based on your clothing, you seem to be quite outgoing but when you spoke to me, it was quiet and reserved.. As most people determine their opinion of others within the first five seconds of meeting them, and you stated that you were not upset, I can assume you do not like me.. What can I do to make you happy with owning me? I will do anything.” Spencer sounded a little panicked. 

Morgan, Emily, and Hotch all looked around at each other, shocked that the boy basically just profiled Garcia. While Garcia was barely holding back tears, “Oh no.. No, No, No honey. I—I do like you. Very much! I just don’t like the term ‘owner’ is all.”

Spencer tilted his head to the side, “I don’t understand.. Would you like me to call you something else?”

“Umm… Oh! I know!” Garcia gave a genuine smile, “Friend.”

“Friend?... You… You don’t want me?” Spencer’s eyes were already welling with tears before he looked around to Morgan, Emily, and Hotch, “Do.. Do you all still want me? Please… I—”

Morgan took a step forward, reaching out and grabbing Spencer’s hand, holding it gently. “Shhh.. That isn’t what she meant, Pretty Boy. Right?” He looked over at Garcia.

“No! Not at all! I don’t want you to go anywhere, sweetie. It’s just I don’t want you to think of me as your owner.” Garcia said and a few tears ran down Spencer’s cheeks. He wasn’t understanding her explanation, so she turned to Hotch, “Little help here, sir?”

Hotch cleared his throat. “Spencer, did you ever wish you were more friendly with Maximillian? Like maybe you two could just talk?” Spencer shook his head yes immediately. “Well, that is what we want to be. We all want to be your friend and take care of you. Is that okay?”

Spencer furrowed his brow, “An owner.. that is also a friend… I—I would love that.. I am not sure how it would work though…”

“We will help you, okay? And remember, no punishments here and you can ask as many questions as you like.” Morgan said, letting go of Spencer’s hand once he seemed to relax.

The group made their way to the living room, all finding a seat in the spacious area. There was a large flat-screen television on the wall playing some home show that Morgan was watching before the rest of the team arrived and Spencer had spent almost all day in the library.

Once they all sit, Spencer started to zone out again, not looking at the TV or engaging in the small talk the team was making. He looks almost out of place sitting on the expensive leather sofa, as if he were not used to sitting on the furniture. Morgan started watching Spencer. He looked as if he was fighting the urge to tuck his legs up to his chest and hug himself. He danced his thin fingers on the tops of his knees. Tapping them along but not focusing on them.

It occurred to him that this was the first time that Spencer was sitting down correctly. In the library, Spencer stood as he read or he sat on the floor, despite there being several reading chairs in the room. In the dining room for lunch, Spencer sat on his legs, as if he were kneeling on the chair. _Maybe he just isn’t used to sitting in regular furniture.. But why would he try and make himself sit regular if he were clearly uncomfortable?_ Morgan thought before it hit him, _Garcia.._

Morgan leaned over to Garcia, who was sitting on the sofa next to him, “Baby Girl, tell the kid he can sit how he wants.” He says quietly.

“No. I am not telling him what to do.” Garcia whispers back.

“Look at him, he is clearly uncomfortable. I think you are making him nervous.”

Garcia watches Spencer’s expressionless face and his fidgeting body. “Fine.. Spencer, honey?” Garcia said and Spencer double blinked out of his dissociation and looked up at Garcia. “Please sit how you are more comfortable. You don’t have to sit like us if you don’t want.”

Spencer looked over at Hotch again. It was clear that while he was told that the whole team owned him, he knew Hotch was the leader. Then Spencer pulled his legs up to his chest, tucking them into his too-large shirt. He wrapped his arms around himself and relaxed slightly. “Thank you, Miss Penelope.”

“Sugarplum, just Penelope. No ‘Miss’, please,” Garcia said, and Spencer nodded again. “It smells great in here. Is Rossi in the kitchen?”

“Mm-hmm. JJ too. I asked if I could help but they wouldn’t let me..” Spencer said, looking a little sad for some reason.

“Did you cook a lot at your last place?” Emily asked

“Umm.. about twice a week. If I was permitted downstairs, then _he_ preferred me cooking. I couldn’t do much due to my restraints,” Spencer absentmindedly rubbed his wrists with his hands. Almost as if he missed his handcuffs. “But _he_ said, ‘bitches are only good for sex and making food’ and as most of the staff were male, I was meant to cook.” Spencer smiled slightly which made everyone feel a little uneasy.

Garcia was the most concerned, “Sweetie, you know you are a male too. I mean.. You do identify as a male, right?”

“I have male genitalia, yes. I have never thought of myself as female or wished for female genitals.. Well, I have always wondered if being fucked in the pussy is as painful as being fucked in the ass when not prepared.” Spencer tilted his head in thought. “But I like my body the way it is. It’s useful.” He said plainly and Garcia looked as if she were about to cry again. She was not expecting such a sweet-looking boy to say something so vulgar.

“I—But.. why did you refer to yourself as if you were a woman?” Garcia asked and Hotch shot her a glare to stop.

“Oh, no. Not a female. A bitch. I am just a bitch.” Spencer corrected, still holding a smile. He moved his hand down to the bottom of his right foot and started rubbing the ‘M’ branded there.

Garcia was about to say something, tell him that he wasn’t just a bitch. That he wasn’t a bitch at all but once she opened her mouth, Rossi came out of the kitchen. “La cena è servita! ( _Dinner is served_ )”

“English, Rossi!” Morgan yelled over with a laugh.

“He said ‘Dinner is served’.” Spencer said and all eyes turn to him.

“You know Italian, kid?” Rossi asked

Spencer shook his head, “Mm-hmm. Well, I know many languages, but I have never spoken any. I learned them from the books in _his_ library.”

“Puoi capire cosa sto dicendo però? _(You can understand what I am saying though?)_ ” Rossi asked, testing him.

“Yes, sir. I have never heard someone speak Italian before, but it sounds as pretty as I thought it would.” Spencer said, smiling at Rossi. It was almost flirtatious, but they knew he didn’t mean it like that.

Rossi smirked, “I will have to teach you how to speak it, Polpetto ( _term of endearment for a larger ‘little one’ in someone’s life_ ). Now come on, let’s eat.”

The team all got up and made their way over to the dining room, but Morgan noticed that Spencer didn’t get up right away, so he stuck his hand out to him. “Come on, kid. You too.” Spencer smiled, looking slightly surprised to be included in the group’s meal, before grabbing Morgan’s hand and holding it the whole way to the formal dining room. JJ was finishing setting the table and gestured to a seat in between two other chairs. Morgan understood and walked Spencer over, sitting him in the middle while JJ and Morgan took either side. Emily and Garcia sat opposite of the three and Hotch and Rossi sat on each of the ends.

The food was laid out in the middle of the table, family buffet style. There was a range of food, Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara, Grilled Chicken Margherita, Chicken & Gnocchi, and Pasta e Fagioli. There were also a range of sides: rolls, baked zucchini, roasted potatoes, salad, and of course, white rice. It was more than enough food for the seven of them. The team all praised Rossi and JJ for the spread before starting to pile food on the empty plates in front of them each.

Spencer was shaking slightly as he crossed his legs in the dining room chair. He looked extremely overwhelmed. Morgan leaned over, “Want me to make your plate, Spencer?”

“Yes, please..” Spencer said, fidgeting with his hands.

Morgan took Spencer’s plate and added a scoop of white rice, wondering why Rossi didn’t make gravy as well, before adding a roll and a small bowl of Chicken & Gnocchi soup. He placed the plate in front of Spencer, pouring some water from a pitcher on the table in his cup. There were several bottles of wine on the table, but Morgan didn’t bother to offer him any. He moved a fork and spoon closer to the front of his plate and said, “There you go, Pretty Boy. You are allowed to eat anything you want. You will not be punished for eating or not eating, okay?” Morgan said, making sure the rules were clearly outlined, even though they had told him that before.

The room was overtaken by sounds of small talk and laughter between friends. Spencer, however, stayed quiet. Morgan kept up with the conversation while keeping a watchful eye on Spencer. He was picking at his rice, taking small bites, while eyeing the other two items on his plate. He wanted to try them, but he was scared. Finally, after most of his rice was gone, he took the spoon he was eating the rice with and dipped it into the bowl of soup. He didn’t scoop anything out though, just dipped it enough to get broth on the spoon. He looked around the room, making sure no one was watching him, and Morgan quickly looked away. He brought the spoon to his mouth and his eyes went wide.

Morgan couldn’t help but smile at how excited he looked tasting the soup. He slowly moved the spoon back in the soup, scooping some and quickly eating it. He let out a moan once he did, making all eyes turn to him. He was bouncing slightly in his chair as he continued to eat loudly. Halfway through the soup, he decided to try the roll. Again, he carefully took a bite, making sure no one was watching him, and again, he loved it. He ate the whole roll before drinking a sip of water and sitting back, determining that he had enough, despite the fact that he really didn’t eat that much.

“Are you done, Polpetto?” Rossi asked

“Yes, Sir. Thank you so much. I haven’t eaten anything that delicious in… well, probably ever.” Spencer said, smiling brightly before turning to Morgan, “Did I do good?” he asked, worrying on his bottom lip.

Morgan reached out and ruffled Spencer’s hair. “Of course. You did perfect, Pretty Boy.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The BAU team, and Spencer, made their way to the living room after dinner. They all sat around, making small talk again and some were drinking wine still. Spencer curled up to the side of Morgan, much to his own and the team’s surprise. Yesterday he spent most of the day cuddling up with JJ in the hospital bed, so it was clear the boy liked the security of someone else’s company.

Yet again, Spencer checked out of the conversation. His eyes were unfocused, and his face was slack. Emily, who was sitting across from the two men, noticed first. “Guys,” She nudged her head over to Spencer, “Why does that happen so often?”

Rossi and Hotch looked at each other, before Hotch spoke up. “Dissociation. At some point, he learned he could send his mind somewhere else to protect himself from what was happening around him or to him.”

JJ, who was sitting on the other side of Spencer, leaned forward some to look at him. “But there isn’t anything bad happening right now.. We are just talking.”

“But he has lived in a world where something bad can happen in the blink of an eye. It has become his go-to when he isn’t actively engaged in something.” Rossi explained. While it was nice to have an answer to why Spencer kept spacing out, the answer didn’t help them feel any better.

They all were watching Spencer, deep in thought about what the young man had to go through, when they noticed him start to drift to sleep. Hotch looked at his watch, it was already almost 10 PM but he wanted to bring something up to Spencer while it was still fresh in his mind. “Hey, Spencer?”

Spencer sat up slightly and rubbed his eyes with his balled-up fists, “Yes, Master Aaron?”

Hotch’s face softened slightly at his childish voice but disturbing greeting. “Just Aaron or Hotch, remember?” Spencer nodded his head. “I want to tell you something but first I want you to know that you are not in trouble and you will not be punished.” Hotch waited for Spencer to say something or nod but instead, he just looked terrified. He hugged onto Morgan’s arm, pushing himself impossibly closer to his side.

Morgan tried to comfort Spencer, even though he wasn’t sure what Hotch was getting at. “Spencer, it’s okay. Nothing bad will happen.”

Spencer pulled his legs up towards his chest, but Morgan’s arm was in the way so instead, he just leaned them on Morgan’s lap. “Promise?” He whispered out.

“Yes, kid. I promise nothing bad will happen to you.”

Hotch nodded at Morgan, as if he were saying thank you before starting, “Remember how I told you they found Don Garza?” Spencer nodded ever so slightly. “Well, from the list you made for Agent Swann, you marked fourteen people as ‘sold’. So far we have found nine of them alive. They all escaped shortly after being sold.”

Spencer’s smirk came back, just as it did when Hotch told him that Don Garza had escaped, but he didn’t say anything.

“Garcia, do you have the list of the nine people’s names?” Hotch asked and Garcia got up, grabbing her purse, and pulling out a laptop. She sat back down, already typing.

“Yes, my liege. I have it right here. Want me to read them?” Hotch nodded and Garcia listed the victim’s names out. Spencer’s face reacted to everyone she said.

Once Garcia was done, Spencer looked a mix of emotions. Before Hotch could continue, Spencer spoke up. “Kate Ellis. You didn’t find Kate Ellis?”

Garcia typed on her computer before saying, “No.. I don’t even have a missing person’s report..”

Spencer leaned his head back down on Morgan’s arm, looking defeated.

“Who is Kate Ellis?” JJ asked softly.

“She was on the list.. number 42. She was sold about two weeks ago..” Spencer said. He knew the exact amount of time it had been, but he didn’t feel like thinking about it.

“Do you know the name of her buyer?” Hotch asked.

Spencer shook his head, “No.. I had seen him before, but he wasn’t friends with the other buyers, just _him._ So, no one addressed him by name.”

“What did he look like?” Emily asked.

Spencer shut his eyes, “White male, graying hair that was cut to be off the shoulders and ears.. Maybe 6’2”, 180 lbs. He wore a pinky ring with a golden ‘V’ on it.. He.. Uhh.. He had a long scar on his right thigh and a tattoo of an eagle on his chest..” Garcia typed down everything that Spencer said in hopes that Agent Swann’s team could get a hit off their suspect list. Spencer grew quiet for a minute, opening his eyes, before saying, “He.. he promised not to kill her or sell her…”

“What do you mean, Spence?” JJ asked.

“I—I… Nothing, ma’am.” Spencer said. He was scared to tell them what happened.

Hotch leaned forward in his seat, “Spencer, look at me.” Spencer looked over right away, leaning off Morgan slightly in order to see Hotch head-on. “Did you do something to try and help Kate?”

Spencer started to shake, and tears welled in his eyes. “Please don’t be mad..” He said so quietly, the team barely heard him.

“I will not be mad about anything you tell me, but I need to know what happened.”

Spencer sniffed, “I—I told her what to do.. I told her how to escape from some of the buyers but.. I couldn’t tell her how to escape that man that bought her because I wasn’t sure. He never spoke in any of the meetings.. He would stare at me, watch me.. So, I figured he wouldn’t want to buy a woman.. But several hours before the bidding started, he showed up and showed an interest in buying her.. So, _He_ called off the auction…” Spencer stopped. A few tears were running down his cheeks. Garcia pulled a small pack of tissues out of her purse and handed them to JJ, who took one out and wiped his face.

Hotch sighed, it was getting pretty late, but he wanted Spencer to get this off of his chest. Just him admitting to helping these other victims was a huge step. “See, Spencer. No one here is mad. We are very proud of you for trying to help those people.” Hotch said, giving the boy one of his rare smiles.

“A-are you s-sure?” Spencer stuttered out.

“Positive. Now, can you tell us everything that happened with that man and Kate?”

Spencer took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, letting his mind carry himself back to that day as he told the story.

**

Spencer was wearing a long red dress that tied at the waist. Since Maximillian was expecting company, he was also dressed in a matching red panty and bralette set. The bralette didn’t add much bust to Spencer’s flat chess but the stringy straps crossed behind his neck, making the dress look a little more sexual. He was wearing one of his heavier collars, a thick black leather collar with a lock on the front. His hands were also handcuffed in a nice set of black leather handcuffs, but the chain was shorter than normal, so he couldn’t move his hands much.

Maximillian led him downstairs to a large finished basement, where he held his auctions. He hooked Spencer to a chain on the far wall, where Spencer normally sat during auctions and meetings. He zoned out when Maximillian left but snapped back when that man came into the room. He wasn’t supposed to be alone with men without Maximillian’s permission. He wanted to scream but he knew Maximillian hated his screams, so he just stayed still as the man got closer.

He eyed Spencer like he was a hunk of meat. “You are so beautiful, you know that?” the man said, rubbing his cock a few times over his pants. He was getting hard as he stared at Spencer. “Oh yeah, your master doesn’t allow you to speak, right? If you were mine, I would let you speak as much as you want.. well more like moan and scream.” The man said, smirking. He leaned over in front of Spencer but before he could touch him, Maximillian came back.

“You better not be touching my property without permission. I will shoot you dead where you stand.” He said in his eerily deep voice as he led an equally well dressed and chained Kate Ellis down into the room. He hooked her to a chain in the middle of the floor. She quickly got into a kneeling position, matching what Spencer was doing, as he was the one that told her how to survive.

“Oh, you know I wouldn’t, Max. I am just looking.” The man said, leaning back down and staring into Spencer’s hazel eyes. “How much for this one anyway?”

“My little bitch is not for sale,” Maximillian said sharply.

“Come on. Everything has a price. He looks so well trained, what’s his ass like?”

“Perfect and that is why he isn’t for sale. I have never had such a good pet before. Why do you think I have kept him so long?” Maximillian said and Spencer wanted to smile. He loved it when his owner told him how good he was, but he stayed still. Stayed silent. He knew better than to react.

“How about just a fuck then?” The man said, licking his lips.

Maximillian huffed, “I thought you came here for the girl.”

“I did and I will still buy her, but I want a go at him first. Actually.. I want the girl to watch me fuck him, so she knows what she is gonna get.” The man said.

“Triple the price we talked about and you can call it a deal. One-hour max and no leaving lasting marks on my pet. No tearing him either, there is lube in that cabinet right there.” Max said, pointing at the other side of the room.

“So.. I can do anything else?”

“I am fully aware of your kink. Just don’t get him sick, and don’t be rough.” Maximillian said before walking up to Spencer, “Eyes.” He said and Spencer looked up, looking him dead in the eyes. “Be a good little bitch for him, okay? I will be upstairs.” He said before pulling Spencer in for an owning kiss. Maximillian rarely kissed Spencer but when he did, it was full of dominance. He handed the man the key to Spencer’s collar before heading up the stairs.

The man worked as fast as possible. He got the lube, unchained Spencer, and undressed him in a matter of minutes. “I want you to speak.”

“What do you want me to say?” Spencer said, in a hoarse voice.

“Tell me you want me. Get yourself hard too.” The man said, pulling himself out of his own pants and leisurely rubbing his cock. Spencer didn’t want to listen to this man. He hated having to serve people that were not his owner. He looked over at Kate, who was trying hard not to cry. “Hurry the fuck up! I might not be able to hurt you, but I will make sure to kill that bitch over there once we get to my place if you don’t fucking listen,” the man yelled.

“No! Please! Don’t kill her!” Spencer pleaded.

“Ohh, that is how to get you to behave. Good to know." The man leaned down and grabbed Spencer by the hair, pulling him in close. "You do everything I say, and I will keep her alive. I won’t even sell her.”

“Yes, sir. Anything you want, sir.” Spencer said, adding a panting, desperate tone to his voice.

The man smirked, let go of Spencer, and got undressed completely, “Now. Touch yourself, get yourself hard for me.” 

Spencer did what he said, stroked himself a few times, focusing on the task at hand. Within a minute he was hard. He knew how to play this role well, so he fell right into it. “Ahh.. It feels so good, sir.”

“Mmm.. Good boy. Turn around, bend over.”

Spencer followed his orders and a second after he turned around, two thick fingers were being pressed into him. He was glad that the man at least used the lube. It was rough and awkward, but Spencer played along. “Aahh… Please.. I love it, sir!” Spencer continued to moan loudly and beg as two fingers turned into three and three turned into the man’s smaller than average dick. He pumped himself in and out of Spencer’s small body. Spencer lost track of how long he faked interest and moaned.

Finally, he could feel the man getting close but instead of cumming in his ass, he got up and whipped Spencer around, “Open up!” He yelled and Spencer knew he was going to cum in his mouth. He opened his mouth and swallowed the man’s dick down, trying hard to ignore the fact that that dick was just balls deep in his ass, before the familiar taste of cum flooded over his tongue. He swallowed down the cum, but something was wrong. He started to taste a different bitter and overly salty liquid. Then it hit him, urine. The man was holding Spencer tightly around the back of his head and he pissed down his throat.

Spencer had no choice but to swallow it down if he wanted the girl to live. So that is what he did. The urine stopped for a moment but instead of pulling away the man said, “Cum from my piss in your throat, bitch!” Spencer had learned long ago how to control his orgasms, which included forcing himself to have one in a matter of seconds. He started stroking himself again and once he got fully hard, the man started peeing again. It took less than ten seconds for Spencer to cum. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling though, rushing to climax always made him feel uneasy and sick. The sickening feeling was worsened by the man that just made him drink piss and he struggled not to vomit.

Once the man was done, he got dressed again and checked his watch. “I still have five minutes.” He said with a smile, “Go over to the girl.”

Spencer got up and walked over to Kate, who looked horrified. “She is not allowed to have sex with me. That is _his_ rule.” Spencer said flatly. He didn’t want to get in trouble with his owner by following someone else’s orders.

“That’s not what is going to happen. Girl, I want you to piss on him. Tell him what a piece of shit he is.” The man ordered.

Before Kate had a chance to argue, Spencer whispered, “Do it.” Before laying on the floor. Kate started to cry but did it anyway. She got up, slipped her panties off, and lifted her dress.

“You are a piece of shit!” She yelled as she got over Spencer and started to pee on his nude torso. “Nothing but a faggot twink! You are worthless!” She continued to degrade him, despite her tears, until she finished. The man was moaning loudly at the sight. He had taken himself out of his pants, rubbing his half-hard cock while Kate finished what she was told to do.

A loud knock on the door caused the man to tuck himself back in his pants before Maximillian showed back up at the door. Spencer, despite the fact that he was covered in urine, sat back up into the kneeling position and bowed his head. “Damnit! He is all dirty now.” Maximillian said as he saw Spencer. “Go to your room, pet. I will be there to bathe you in a minute.”

Before Spencer left he heard the man speak, “Thanks for the good time, Toilet. Don’t worry. I am a man of my word.”

**

Spencer finished his story, and everyone looked shocked. Garcia had long since left the room with JJ following her to make sure she was okay. Morgan couldn’t help but hold Spencer’s hand as he spoke, giving him something comforting to hold on to as he bared his torture to the room. Spencer was completely dissociating himself from the words he was saying though. Once his story was done, he double blinked and brought himself back to the present tense. Before saying, “We had a deal.. I did what he said..”

Hotch held his stoic disposition, even though he wanted to hug Spencer tightly, like he does with Jack when he is upset but instead he said, “We will figure it out together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think!!  
> Thank you all for your support! I just edited the mass amount of typos I had. This is why I need to stop posting at 4 am when I am half asleep XD


	9. Blow Jobs and Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Dub-con/Non-con scene

Morgan took Spencer upstairs to get him ready for bed. He helped the young man through brushing his own hair and teeth before getting him to lay in the large bed. He watched Spencer rub the clean, soft white bedspread on his cheek making an approving “Mmmm” sound.

“Like it?” Morgan asked with a smile.

“Yes! I think this is the biggest and softest bed I have ever laid in. Are you sure this is okay?”

Morgan walked over and pulled the bedspread and sheet over Spencer’s long legs. “Yes, Pretty Boy. This is just for you. You deserve it.” Morgan said, running his hand over Spencer’s head in a soothing manner as the boy laid his head on the pillow. His eyes were already falling shut. “Do you need anything before I go?” Spencer nodded no. “Okay. Well everyone will be downstairs for a little longer and then Aaron, JJ, and I will be in rooms on this wing. David will be down the second hallway at the end. Get any of us if you need anything at all, okay?”

Spencer nodded his head; his eyes were open only a sliver. “Okay. Thank you so much, Derek.”

Morgan walked over to the door and flicked the light off but before he shut the door he heard a small whimper. “Spencer? Everything okay?”

Spencer didn’t say anything for a minute but then finally said, “I—I don’t like the dark… It’s okay though…”

Morgan moved in the dark room and turned the stained-glass lamp next to Spencer’s bed on. The light bulb was dim but it still caused beautiful colors of light to shine on the walls. “Is that better?” Morgan could barely see Spencer’s head nod yes as his eyes shut fully.

“Thank you,” Spencer said before he drifted off the sleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morgan made his way back into the living room where the rest of the team was still sitting. The room felt heavy and sad. He sat back in his spot on the sofa with a huff. “The kid is asleep. He is scared of the dark, by the way, so no one turn that table light off.” Morgan said to the room, even though he was sure that no one would turn off the light. He just wanted to make sure.

The room was quiet for a few more minutes. Wine, television, and small talk was abandoned as everyone thought about the story Spencer just told them. Finally, Emily spoke up, “We need to find that woman. I mean.. He drank urine for her to live.”

“The way he barely reacted as he told the story upset me more than anything… Makes me wonder what else he could have gone through to make _that_ seem like just another story..” JJ said to no one in particular.

“I know tomorrow is Saturday, but we will still have to work on following up with these leads when needed. I will talk to Swann tomorrow about the man Spencer described and see what we can do.” Hotch said but Rossi shook his head.

“You have Jack tomorrow, Aaron. You spend the day with him. I will call Swann.”

“Thanks, Dave,” Hotch said, part of him wanted to argue, to call Haley and tell her he had work to do but he missed Jack too much. “I am not sure when Agent Katherine Cole, the Head of the Crimes Against Children Unit, will want to come by to interview him but I know Swann’s team isn’t taking a break from Spencer’s investigation. So, Swann might want to come by herself to interview him again.”

“It isn’t that often a human trafficking victim with a photographic memory gets rescued. He—” Emily started but Morgan cut her off.

“Eidetic memory.”

“What?” JJ asked.

“He said he had an eidetic memory, not photographic.”

Emily shrugged, “What’s the difference?”

Before anyone could answer her, Garcia was typing on her computer and started reading something off, “A person with an eidetic memory has an abundant and unusually vivid visual recall. They are known to memorize things they read at first glance, replay their visual memory with near-perfect recall, and remember things that are said better than the average person.”

Emily and Garcia looked impressed, but JJ just looked sad, “So… He has everything that happened to him stuck in his head…”

Rossi went to say something but was cut off by screaming from upstairs. The whole team sprung up, and ran up the stairs. Hotch, who was the closest to the stairs when they all got up, made it to Spencer’s room first. “Don’t! No! Please! I don’t want it! Just kill me!” Spencer screamed and thrashed in his bed.

“Spencer. Spencer! Come on, son. Wake up.” Hotch started first, followed by Morgan, who reached the bed next.

He reached his hand out and gave Spencer a shake, “Come on, wake up Spencer!”

Spencer jumped awake, sitting up, and looked around the room. He pulled his arm away from Morgan’s touch without thinking as his chest rose and fell harshly. Sweat was already glistening his forehead and causing his long hair to stick to it. Once Spencer got some understanding of where he was he started to apologize. “Oh, no.. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.” Spencer said, bowing his head.

“Oh Spence.. Remember what we told you in the hospital? Bad dreams are nothing to be sorry for, right Aaron?” JJ said, hoping that hearing it from Hotch would help relax the boy.

“Yes. There is nothing wrong with bad dreams, we are here for you Spencer.” Hotch said and Spencer just nodded.

Once Spencer calmed down a little more, Morgan spoke up. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Spencer looked as if he were about to cry as he fidgeted in his bed. “I—The… My owners before _him_ … They… They never listened. They were cruel and unfair… I would beg.. I would follow the rules.. but they would just give me the shots anyway…” Spencer said, rubbing the crook of his right arm.

Morgan wasn’t too sure what that meant but he wasn’t going to ask. It wasn’t the time. “I am sorry you had to go through that Spencer, but we would never do that to you. You know that, right?” Morgan said and Spencer nodded before laying back down.

“Spence, sweetie? Do you want one of us to be in here with you until you fall asleep?” JJ asked gently but Spencer looked confused.

“Like sex?”

“Oh no, no. I mean, like at the hospital. Derek and I spent time with you, like that.” JJ stammered out. No one was expecting Spencer to make that assumption.

“Oh. Yes, please. If it’s not too much trouble..” Spencer said, his voice was sleepy and light. Seeping child-like innocence. It pulled at everyone’s hearts.

“Never too much trouble.. Who would you like to stay?” JJ asked and Spencer sat up, looking around the room but stopping at Morgan.

“Derek, please.”

Morgan smiled, “Sure thing, kid. Let me go get a chair and I will be right back.”

Before Morgan left, Spencer said, “But—I…”

“What is it, Polpetto?” Rossi asked, but Spencer just shook his head. “Come on, what is it? You won’t upset us.”

“It’s just… Can Derek lay in the bed with me?” Spencer asked, looking between the three men in the room.

Rossi looked over at Hotch but Hotch looked at Morgan. “Morgan, it’s up to you,” Hotch said.

Morgan was glad that Spencer wanted to be comforted by him, but he was also a little nervous. “Okay, kid. I will lay with you, but I want to make it clear that we are not having sex and I will not be touching you or making you touch me in any sexual way, okay?” Morgan said. He climbed into bed once Spencer nodded. He gathered up some of the extra blankets and put it between their bodies. While he couldn’t explain the strong desire he had to hold the young man close, he didn’t want him to think it was something it wasn’t. He wanted him to feel safe and loved above anything else.

Once Morgan was situated in the bed, Spencer let out a little giggle. “What is it?” Morgan asked.

“Oh, nothing. I just have never laid in bed with a man before and it not be for sex.” Spencer said with a smile.

“You have never laid in bed with another straight man?” Garcia asked without thinking. She knew Morgan was bi-sexual but that wasn’t the point in her question. She just didn’t understand how he could have never shared a bed for any reason with another straight man.

“Sexual preference has nothing to do with me serving someone. A hole is a hole.” Spencer said plainly. 

“Oh my God.. Spencer…” Garcia started but Hotch cut her off.

“It’s time to call it a night. I will see you in the morning, Spencer. Sleep well.” Hotch said before he started ushering everyone out of the room.

“Have a good night, Masters.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotch barely slept between the stress he was feeling and Spencer waking up screaming every hour or two. He laid in the guest bedroom closest to Spencer’s room and even kept his door open in case any of the team needed him.

Despite the terrible night he had, he was in the middle of a wonderful lucid dream. He was laying in bed, like he was in real life, but this time his ex-wife, Haley, was blowing him. He knew it wasn’t happening; he hadn’t been intimate with her in over a year but it felt so real. So much better than he ever remembered.

He focused on her movements in the dream. She carefully licked and sucked on the head of his cock. Then she dragged her tongue on the underside of his cock, from base to tip, before taking him in all the way in her throat, swallowing his whole length. Which was something she was never able to do in real life the few times she did go down on him. It caused him to buck and moan. He knew he needed to wake himself in order to prevent his teammates from walking by the door and realizing he was having a wet dream.

He tried to pull himself to reality, but he still felt the most incredible blow job of his life. He was moaning and knew he was getting extremely close. Finally, Hotch was able to open his eyes but the feeling was still there. He looked down at his crotch only to see Spencer, kneeling on the bed and sucking his dick like his life depended on it.

He tried to pull away. “Spencer! Spencer, no—” was all Hotch was able to get out before he was moaning and grunting loudly as he came in Spencer’s mouth.

“What the fuck is going on here?!” Morgan yelled from the door. Hotch jumped out of bed and away from Spencer, quickly tucking himself back into his boxers. “Hotchner, this better not be what the fuck I think it is!” Morgan was furious. His fists were clenched so hard they were shaking.

Morgan had woken up to find that Spencer was no longer in the bed. Worried, he got out of bed to check the library, but a strange moan and grunt caught his attention and he peaked into Hotch’s guest room just in time to see Hotch cum in Spencer’s mouth. His anger was understandable.

“No! It’s not like that!” Hotch yelled, he was beyond confused and still feeling the high of his orgasm. He looked over at Spencer, who was still kneeling on the bed. He was holding his mouth open, letting Hotch’s cum sit on his tongue. “Oh my God, Spencer. No. Get that out of your mouth!” Spencer proceeded to swallow his mouth full of cum and then open his mouth wide and stick his tongue out as if he were proving that he swallowed it all. Hotch ran his hands over his face in frustration.

“Then what the fuck is it like?! Because it looks to me like you just let Spencer give you head!” Morgan yelled. He walked further in the room to see Spencer’s face and he noticed Spencer’s open mouth. His tongue still had semen on it, which just made him even angrier. “Close your mouth, Spencer,” Morgan said, trying to sound calm but his order was laced with anger.

Before Morgan could start yelling at Hotch again, Spencer climbed off the bed and got on his knees in front of Morgan and started to reach for his waistband. Morgan backed up quickly, “Woah! What are you doing?”

“You are next, yes? Or should I go pleasure David first?” Spencer said plainly. He was completely calm, even a little happy looking.

“No, no. What are you talking about?”

Spencer tilted his head to the side, “It’s Saturday morning.”

“… what does that even mean, kid?” Morgan asked, he was still struggling to calm down.

“I would always wake _him_ up with a blow job on Saturday mornings and when Aaron told me he would see me in the morning last night I figured that rule applied here as well.” Spencer said before reaching out for Morgan’s waistband again.

“No, Spencer. Please stop that.” Morgan crouched down to see Spencer head on. “Spencer, did you give Aaron oral sex while he was still asleep?” Morgan cringed slightly at his own words.

“Of course,” Spencer said before looking over at Hotch, who was still standing in the corner of the room in shock. “Did I do good?”

Hotch started to trip on his own words, “I—uhh.. Well…” He started before taking a deep breath. The truth was that that was the best blow job he had ever received but he also didn’t want it. Spencer had assaulted him and had no idea that what he did was wrong due to the life he had been living. Hotch wasn’t sure what to say to him. He needed to know what he did was wrong but being harsh could throw him into a panic. “Listen, Spencer.. Your.. work.. was great.. It’s just that you cannot sexually touch someone else in their sleep. There needs to be direct permission for you to touch someone in that manner, just like you need to give someone else permission to touch you.”

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would someone need my permission to touch me?”

Hotch huffed. He was sure that somewhere in Spencer’s genius mind, he knew the answer. He knew consent laws and social norms but he had been trained to believe he was an exception from this rule. So Hotch went with the easiest answer he could think of, “It’s a new rule. You are not in trouble as you didn’t know but from here forward, you are not to touch anyone sexually without their permission and no one is allowed to touch you without your permission.”

“Yes, Sir! I will obey your rules. Thank you.” Spencer said but Morgan added to it.

“And.. nothing sexual is to happen without you telling another member of the team about it beforehand.” Morgan said before standing back up, “Now, please go take a shower, brush your teeth and hair, just like I walked you through before. And please get into new clothes. They are in your middle drawer.” Spencer stood up and Morgan noticed for the first time that Spencer had an erection. He quickly diverted his eyes, but Spencer stood there with no modesty about his hard-on. He didn’t even seem uncomfortable. He just nodded and made his way back to his own guest room.

Once Spencer left, Hotch sat down on the bed and covered his face with his hands again. “Shit..”

Morgan, who had calmed back down, walked over and sat next to him. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just, caught off guard.. I feel bad for doing that to him..” Hotch said quietly.

Morgan could tell that Hotch was extremely upset. He was never quiet or flustered. “Hotch, you did nothing wrong. Spencer might have had no idea what he was doing was wrong but that doesn’t make it right… Do you.. uhh.. Do you want to press charges against him?” Morgan asked cautiously.

“No. Not at all. I don’t feel.. violated or anything. And yes, I know it would be normal if I did. I just feel bad for Spencer.. First, because he felt like what he was doing was normal and a simple, ‘I will see you in the morning’ turned into him thinking I wanted something from him and second because… I actually enjoyed it.. I mean, before I knew it was him. But I still.. In his mouth.. And he swallowed.. Shit. I just came in a human trafficking victims’ mouth..” Hotch looked disgusted with himself. Morgan was just surprised that the stoic unit chief was talking about what happened at all with him

Morgan put his hand on Hotch’s shoulder, “It’s okay. He didn’t look upset by it.” He said with a chuckle, making Hotch make an annoyed groan. He had also seen the young man’s tented pants as he was leaving the room. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast before you go.”

Hotch nodded and stood up but before Morgan left, he stopped him. “Morgan.. This stays between us, right?”

“What? You mean I can’t tell Rossi that you finally got some?” Morgan joked before he left. Of course, he wasn’t going to say anything, but he rarely got the chance to mess with his boss, so he was going to take it while he could.

“God Damnit, Morgan..”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotch got ready for the day and headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Rossi was cooking, and Morgan was making mugs of coffee. Hotch went ahead and sat down at the kitchen table next to JJ and Morgan placed two coffee mugs in front of them both. “Thanks,” JJ said, taking the mug and adding a small amount of sugar and creamer from the table. “Spence is still in the shower?”

Hotch started to answer but he was cut off by the pitter-patter of bare feet on the hardwood floor. They all looked up to see a freshly showered Spencer, wearing a loose fit, flowy gray dress, and a red unisex cardigan. The material on the dress was thin and left little to the imagination. It was clear that Spencer was not wearing his boxers under the dress. He moved into the kitchen and sat down on the chair next to Morgan, quickly pulling his feet up on the chair and pulling his dress over them, not even acknowledging the fact he just flashed everyone when he lifted his dress up to pull it over his legs.

The four BAU members just stared at Spencer. They had no idea where he got the dress from or why he was wearing it. JJ was the first to ask, “Uh.. Spence, honey. Why aren’t you wearing the clothes I got you?”

“Derek told me ‘And please get into new clothes. They are in your middle drawer’. This was in my middle drawer.” Spencer quoted effortlessly as if everyone would understand what that meant.

Surprisingly, JJ understood. “I put his clothes in the top drawer, not the middle..”

“Ohh,” Rossi said. He finally remembered who’s clothes the young man was wearing. “My cousin’s daughter used that room last. She must have left those in the middle drawer.. But Spencer, why are you wearing them?”

“Derek told me, ‘And please get—”

Spencer started before Morgan cut him off. “We know that, Spencer. We are wondering why you put on the dress when you said you preferred men’s clothing.”

Spencer tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. “You told me too.”

Hotch finally spoke up, “Spencer, would you rather wear that dress or the men’s clothes JJ bought you?”

“Umm.. the men’s clothing was more comfortable for me.. I do like this sweater though..”

Rossi placed a plate of food in front of Spencer, “You can change after breakfast and you can keep the cardigan.”

“Oh, thank you!” Spencer said, rubbing the long sleeve on his cheek and treasuring the soft feeling before looking down at his breakfast plate. He had a cup of rice from the night before, a cut-up apple and a bowl of vanilla yogurt. While the rest of the team got eggs, bacon, cut up fruit, and toast, Rossi didn’t want to stress Spencer out by giving him too many new things.

JJ got up and refreshed her coffee, “Spence, want some coffee or just water?”

Spencer, who had started eating a bite of rice after getting an approving nod from Hotch, looked up. “Coffee?”

“Yeah, have you had coffee before?”

Spencer nodded, “Yes but not since I was twelve.”

“Twelve?” Morgan asked with a chuckle. “Weren’t you a little young to be drinking coffee, Pretty Boy?”

“No such thing. Coffee in moderation can boost energy, burn fat, and improve physical performance, it may also lower the risk of developing several conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. As far as the caffeine, it is a myth that caffeine can stunt a child’s growth. Height is entirely genetic.” Spencer said. The team had heard Spencer ramble facts several times and every time they were impressed. It wasn’t just that Spencer knew all of this information. It was that he could use it all correctly and could reproduce it with ease. It was also the fact that this young man learned everything he knew either while he was twelve or younger or when he was in captivity.

JJ laughed, “Well caffeine didn’t stunt your growth. You are at least six feet. Did you get your height from your mom or dad?” JJ asked but Spencer stilled at the mention of his parents. He put his spoon down and bowed his head slightly as his eyes were already starting to grow distant.

Morgan noticed first and tried to bring him back, “Spencer, do you want a cup of coffee?”

Spencer blinked a few times before looking up at Rossi and Hotch, “Can I?”

Hotch just nodded, still feeling a little uncomfortable, but Rossi said, “Of course, Polpetto.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spencer ate most of his breakfast, including some yogurt, and drank the coffee that was made for him. He made approving sounds and smiled through most of the meal. Once he was done, JJ reminded him that he needed to change, and Spencer made his way upstairs after thanking Rossi again.

Hotch went to the bathroom downstairs while JJ and Morgan started cleaning up from breakfast. It wasn’t even a minute later that the doorbell rang. Rossi answered, expecting it to be Garcia or Emily, but instead, it was Haley and Jack. “Oh, Haley. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Haley stepped inside the foyer with Jack, “Hello, Dave. Sorry to just stop by. Aaron told me last night that he was staying here, and I just got a call from work. They need me in right away.” Haley said, inching a little closer to the door. She was clearly in a hurry.

“Well, Aaron is in the restroom, but I will watch Jack until he comes out. Hey, Jack. How are you doing?” Rossi said, leaning down some to see the small child.

“Thank you, Dave. Jack,” Haley bent down and pulled Jack into a hug and kissed his cheek. “I will see you soon, okay? I love you. Have fun with your daddy.”

“Love you too, mommy,” Jack said and Haley took her leave. Jack turned back to Rossi, “Uncle Dave, I need to potty.”

Rossi chuckled, “Okay, head up those stairs, first hallway, second door. That is your dad’s guest room. Use the restroom in there.” Rossi said and Jack took off up the stairs without a word.

Rossi moved to the sofa in the living room. Once he sat down, Hotch came into the room as well. “Oh, Aaron. Jack is here.”

“What?”

“Haley just dropped him off, something about her needing to be at work. Ironic, huh?” Rossi said with a grin.

“Where is he?” Hotch asked and Rossi pointed up the stairs.

“Your guestroom bathroom.”

Hotch made his way upstairs but when he reached the top, he could hear Spencer talking, “What are you doing here? You are too young.. What is your name?”

Hotch moved into the hallway and could see Spencer, now dressed in a t-shirt, cardigan, and lounge pants, kneeling in front of Jack. “Spencer? What are you—” Hotch was cut off by Spencer yelling.

“No!” He turned around and spread his arms out, covering the little boy. “Don’t! Please, he is too young!”

“Spencer.. I am not going to do anything—” Hotch started but Spencer wasn’t having it.

“No, sir! Take me! Use me! Don’t take the child, please! I will do anything!” For the first time since they met, Spencer looked unapologetically defiant. He was wearing a scowl on his impossibly young-looking face. Hotch hadn’t even noticed Morgan, JJ and Rossi come up the stairs and stand behind him until Morgan said something.

“Spencer. That is Aaron’s son. He would never hurt him.”

“No! You don’t have any proof! I won’t let anyone use the child! I can take his place! Please, let me take his place!” Spencer yelled, looking back to make sure Jack was still behind him.

JJ took a step forward, “Sweetie. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Spencer looked like he was thinking for a moment before turning his head back towards Jack, “What is your name?”

“Jack Hotchner,” Jack said, he wasn’t upset, just confused.

“Hotchner… And how do you know these people?”

“That,” Jack pointed to Hotch, “is my daddy. And the other people are his team. They are nice.” Jack said in an innocent fashion. Spencer’s eyes darted between Jack and Hotch before he finally put his arms down.

“Come here, Jack,” Hotch said and Jack went running into his father’s arms.

“Hi, daddy! Can we go to the park today?” Jack asked with a smile.

“Maybe, buddy.”

Spencer was still kneeling on the floor, looking painfully confused. “I—Sorry..”

“It’s perfectly fine, Spencer. You were about to risk yourself for a little boy you don’t know just because you thought he might be in danger. That will always be a good thing in my book.” Hotch said with a warm smile before carrying Jack downstairs.

“Come on, kid,” Morgan said, reaching his hand out to the kneeling young man.

Spencer took the hand and held it before saying, “Does.. Does Aaron take good care of the boy? Is he a good dad?”

“Yeah, Spence. Aaron loves Jack very much.” JJ said

“So.. he—uhh.. He never hits him, right?” Spencer said, looking down at his mismatched socks.

Morgan sighed, knowing he was probably asking because his father hit him, “No, Spencer. Hotch would never hurt a child.” Spencer’s face relaxed slightly at that.

“How about we take you to the library for a little bit, Polpetto?” Rossi asked, earning a bright smile from Spencer Reid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, this took me forever. I hope you all liked it,  
> Btw, think of the red cardigan from 6x12 Corazon that Reid wore to the doctors when you think of the red cardigan in this fic.  
> Kudos, Sub, and Comment, please. All feedback is good.


	10. Blindfolds and Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Triggers: Same old, read responsibly.

Despite all that happened that morning with Spencer, the rest of the day was relaxing. Hotch left with Jack for the weekend, Spencer continued to read his way through the library and Rossi, JJ and Morgan took turns spending time with Spencer, doing housework, and relaxing in the living room.

Rossi called Agent Swann about the young woman, Kate Ellis, that Spencer talked about the night before, as well as described her buyer. Swann let him know that she was going to do some work to see if they could find out who that man was right away, putting the investigation on Maximillian Alexander on hold until at least Monday. This also meant that the BAU team and Spencer had the weekend off without working the case or being interviewed again. She wasn’t worried about getting information from Spencer in a timely manner so it would be fresh in his mind as he already proved his eidetic memory.

The four continued the day with no issues and before they knew it they were all heading to bed.

Morgan woke up the next morning, once again in Spencer’s bed. The young man had another nightmare shortly after falling asleep and asked if Morgan could stay again. Morgan was concerned about his nightmares. He would scream and yell terrifying things, from begging to die to begging for others to live to apologizing fiercely. Morgan would ask if he wanted to talk about it and sometimes he would give a small explanation but most of the time he would just shake his head no and try and go back to sleep. Morgan knew that Spencer needed professional help, but he didn’t even know where Spencer would be living in a week from now, so how was he going to set up mental health services?

Morgan sat up and looked over at Spencer, who was still asleep. His long golden-brown hair was a mess on the pillow but somehow looked like a halo around his head. Morgan took in every detail he could about the young man’s face now that he had the opportunity. His skin was a flawless pale white, except for a few freckles sprinkled throughout. He wondered how often Spencer shaved as he started to see a light amount of stubble on his face, which made him smile. His face was sharp and angular. Mixed with his large, soft hazel eyes, long eyelashes, full lips and perfectly shaped nose, the boy at the makings to be a show-stopping model, and that was before even getting to his long and slender frame.

Suddenly, Spencer’s eyes flew open, causing Morgan to jump slightly but Spencer didn’t move. He just stared at the ceiling and his eyes grew distant. “Spencer?” Morgan said after a minute.

Spencer blinked a few times and turned towards Morgan, “Oh, good morning, Derek,” he said with his characteristically bright smile.

Morgan ignored the strange wake-up and smiled back. “Hey, kid. You sleep okay?”

“Yes, very well. Thank you.. I am sorry for asking you to sleep next to me again..” Spencer said, rolling over to face Morgan and cuddling up further with his comforter.

“It is really no problem. Never be afraid to ask for what you need here, okay?” Morgan said before he stood up and stretched. He looked over to Spencer and found him shamelessly staring at his stretching form.

Morgan’s shirt lifted slightly as he stretched, and Spencer’s eyes darted straight for the dark sliver of skin that peaked around his white t-shirt and pajama pants. Spencer bit his lip and shifted in bed as his eyes went down even further to eye the faint natural bulge of Morgan’s crotch.

Morgan awkwardly stepped back. He was used to people checking him out. He was a fit and attractive man and he knew it, but he was not used to anyone doing it so bluntly. It was as if Spencer had no idea that checking someone out so boldly is normally an inappropriate thing to do.

 _Shit, he probably doesn’t even know.._ Morgan thought before saying, “Go ahead and take your shower, brush your hair and teeth and get dressed then come downstairs for breakfast.” He quickly left the room after Spencer nodded, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward for him.

Morgan went to his own guest room, that he had yet to use for anything besides the shower since he got to Rossi’s. He took his own shower, admiring the fact that Rossi, JJ, and Spencer were most likely also in the shower or recently finished and there was still hot water. Part of him was loving it in Rossi’s mansion. It beat going back to his ‘Bachelor’s pad’ where the hot water ran out too quickly, the rooms were quiet and most importantly, there was no Spencer.

Since the team didn’t have to work on the case, Emily and Garcia figured they should spend that Sunday with Spencer and Rossi in order to give Morgan and JJ a break to go back to their own homes. JJ quickly accepted, saying that even though she loved the team and Spencer, she needed to have a break. Morgan, on the other hand, didn’t want to leave. He didn’t understand what he was feeling towards Spencer, but he knew he was protective over him. He wanted to be there to make sure he was safe and cared for.

He didn’t tell the team this though. Instead, he told them that Spencer hadn’t gotten to know Emily or Garcia too well so it would be best if only one of them left so he still had another familiar person besides Rossi in the home. With that, Garcia planned on coming to replace JJ, but Morgan would stay for a little longer.

When Morgan finished his shower and getting ready for the day, he headed downstairs for breakfast. He walked into the kitchen to find Spencer, wearing the correct clothes this time, JJ, and Garcia sitting around the kitchen table. Garcia was handing out coffees to everyone, including Spencer. He just eyed the drink, not daring to touch it.

“Go ahead, Spencer! It’s an iced mocha. They are simple but sweet. I hope you like it.” Garcia said, taking a big sip of her multicolored Frappuccino.

Spencer wrapped his arms around his torso and stayed silent until he saw Morgan coming into the room. “Derek.. Am I allowed to have this?” Spencer asked, holding an expression of hope and fear.

“Of course, Pretty Boy.” Morgan said before looking at Garcia, “Oh tell me you got me something, baby girl?”

Garcia passed over a hot to-go cup of coffee, “Caramel Macchiato for my dark caramel God.”

Spencer, who still hadn’t taken a sip of his drink, looked confused at Morgan and Garcia’s interaction. “You two are lovers?” He asked plainly, almost making JJ spit out her drink.

Garcia and Morgan shared a look before breaking out in laughter. “No way, sugar plum!” Garcia said loudly, too loudly for the lack of caffeine the rest of the table had consumed.

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Morgan could only guess how confusing his flirting with Garcia must be to Spencer. _He is probably used to the people that flirt with him, having sex with him._ Morgan thought, eyeing Spencer. He still hadn’t tried his coffee. “Kid, try your drink, please.”

Spencer automatically followed the order, taking a small sip from the green straw. His eyes went wide when the taste touched his tongue. “Wow… I have never had coffee that tasted so good! Thank you! I can have all of this?” Spencer said, bouncing in his seat.

Garcia smiled, her cherry red lipstick curling upwards, “Yes, sweetie. Just make sure to eat your breakfast too.”

Spencer looked over at Rossi, who was by the stove, “May I help you, David?”

Rossi was already starting to plate the food, “As I told you twice this morning, no thank you. It’s not your responsibility to cook in this house” Rossi said with a grin.

He made quick work of plating the meal and giving everyone a plate of eggs, sausage, and waffles with a side of fresh fruit. Spencer, on the other hand, had white rice that was leftover from Friday night, yogurt, and a cut up banana instead of his normal apple.

When Reid finished his meal, he thanked Rossi again and curled himself up on the chair, tucking his legs into his shirt again before he zoned out. Rossi watched the young man, in the same type of outfit he had been wearing for days, “Morgan, Garcia, you two should take the kid shopping for some new clothes.”

“Ohh! That would be so much fun!” Garcia said brightly but at the same time Morgan said, “Huh?”

“All the clothes he has now look like pajamas, which is fine, but he is going to need some real clothes sooner or later,” Rossi said, earning a nod from JJ and Garcia but a worried look from Morgan.

“One of us can go get him some clothes, but I don’t think he is ready to go out,” Morgan said. Spencer was a nervous mess just going from the hospital to Rossi’s house. He couldn’t imagine taking him to a mall or even a grocery store.

“You won’t know until you try. Plus, you are a trained profiler. You can talk him down if he gets too worked up and Garcia can give him hugs.” Rossi said with a chuckle.

Morgan furrowed his brow further, “You mean you wouldn’t even come with us?”

“No, I am buying, you guys are shopping,” Rossi said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. He grabbed his Amex Black Card and give it to Garcia. “Get him at least 10 outfits, shoes, socks, anything you think he will need,” Rossi said plainly, as if it was no big deal to spend hundreds of dollars on a new wardrobe for someone you have known less than a week.

“That is really nice of you Rossi.. But..” JJ started before looking over at Spencer to see if he was still zoned out or not. “We don’t know how long he will be able to stay with you or where he will go next..”

Rossi shook his head. He might not have known the boy very long, but he was part of his family now. He didn’t foresee having Spencer leave his home anytime soon. He had the experience and means to take care of him until he could take care of himself, so he had no reason to move him somewhere else. He didn’t want the team to know all that though. He would bring it up when the time came. “Well, wherever he ends up. He will need clothes.”

Morgan looked over at Spencer, who didn’t seem to be listening to any part of the conversation. “I think we should ask him what he wants to do. He might not want to go out at all.”

JJ nodded, “Hey, Spence?”

Spencer jumped slightly and looked up at JJ, “Yes, Ma’am?”

JJ ignored the ma’am. Not calling the team ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ was one of the few rules Spencer didn’t automatically follow, although he did seem to be trying to stop. They figured it was something that was just ingrained into his brain and would fade over time. “Derek and Penelope want to take you shopping today for some new clothes, is that something you would like?”

Spencer looked painfully confused. “I would.. leave the house with them?”

“Well, yeah,” JJ answered, not understanding what was confusing about that.

“I… I am not allowed to leave… I… _He_ told me I was never allowed to leave. I—I need my restraints, please…” Spencer stuttered out. His voice was panicked. He put his arms out in front of him, wrists pushed together, on the table as if he was expecting to be handcuffed right then.

Morgan went to calm the young man down but before he could, Rossi spoke up, “What happened if you left, Spencer?”

Spencer’s eyes went wide, and his breath hitched. “I never left! I would never!” He yelled unexpectedly.

“Shhhhh.. Spencer, it’s okay. We know you would never leave without permission.” Morgan said trying to soothe Spencer.

Rossi continued to push him though, “I need to know what happened if someone left.”

“I—I… I don’t know…” Spencer said, shrinking in on himself.

“You don’t know?” Garcia asked. She couldn’t understand why he was so upset if he didn’t even know what happened.

Rossi tried asking a different way, “Did anyone ever try and leave?”

At that, Spencer started to shake. Morgan wanted to reach out and hold him, but he wasn’t sure how he would react if touched. So far, he had accepted all touches by the team, but he looked on edge now, as if he were going to scream and cry if anyone even looked at him wrong.

“O-one that I know of… A woman…” Spencer started, and Rossi nodded his head for him to keep going. “She.. uhh… She was new… _He_ didn’t like training the new ones… _He_ would give them a few days of training and then.. most the time.. would put them in my room for the.. test… _He_ needed to know if they would be loyal..”

Spencer let his words die out and Morgan inched his chair just a little closer to his and said, “You are doing great, Spencer.”

Spencer took a deep breath and kept going, “ _He_ put her in my room one day and I… I asked her what her name was... I tried to tell her how to be loyal.. how to be owned… She wouldn’t listen. She just kept yelling… All of a sudden she got up and ran. I yelled after her, but I was chained to the wall, and she didn’t stop..”

A few tears ran down Spencer’s cheeks before he looked up at Rossi, as if he were asking if he had to continue. “Keep going, please,” Rossi said and Morgan tensed up, grinding his teeth together. He knew that the team needed this type of information from Spencer, but it was clearly hurting him, and he hated seeing him have to relive his torture.

Spencer put his arms in his shirt, that was still pulled over his legs, and wrapped his arms around his bare chest. “I—I don’t know how far she got… After a few minutes, I heard screaming and then one of the staff members came in my room… and blindfolded me, let me use the restroom and then put me in my bed restraints… Then _he_ brought her in… I don’t know what _he_ did to her… She screamed for so long… Her voice died out and I could only hear a breathy hiss… Based on the meals I received; it was about three days before she died…” Spencer paused for a moment, closing his eyes. His face cringed as if he could still hear her screams.

“When _he_ was done, he took me out of the bed but didn’t take my blindfold off… _He…_ I…” Spencer took another deep breath, “ _He_ put me on the floor.. It was wet… warm…” Three of the FBI agents stiffed slightly, already knowing what he was placed in. Garcia didn’t understand but she was already teary-eyed. “ _He_ fucked me on the floor.. Told me how I could never leave _him_ … Told me _he_ l-loved me… But he would hurt me if I tried to leave… _He_ fucked me rougher than normal… but he let me cum… which was my reward for being good… I was good..” Spencer said the last line to himself and a small smile cast on his face for a split second.

“When _he_ was done, _he_ told me once I heard to door open and shut, I could take the blindfold off and I was to clean the room, and hose myself down as well…” Spencer stopped. His eyes were dazed, growing absent.

Rossi noticed and asked the question that none of them wanted to have answered, “What was on the floor Spencer?”

Spencer didn’t look any more aware but answered blankly, “Blood… Exsanguination… _He.._ uhh.. normally took the body with him but… this time… he left her head…” Garcia was crying loudly at this point, JJ had her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes but Morgan and Rossi tried to keep a calm expression in order to calm Spencer.

Rossi opened his mouth to ask more but quickly shut it back. Spencer had had enough. “Spencer, look at me, please,” Rossi said, and Spencer quickly looked over, making eye contact. “Thank you for sharing that with us.. But I want to make one thing clear,” Rossi paused, waiting for Spencer to nod, “You will never, and I mean never, be punished in this house. You will never get in any trouble for leaving. If you told us that you didn’t want to be here, you could leave with no issue. Okay?”

“Okay..” Spencer croaked out but Rossi shook his head.

“No, I need to know that you believe me. It’s fine if you don’t, but I want the truth..”

Spencer looked deep in thought for a moment before he answered, “I believe you… but I am still scared.”

“That is perfectly fine, Polpetto,” Rossi said, giving Spencer a warm smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not happy with this chapter's length but I didn't want to wait another day until I posted so here we are.
> 
> Let me know what you think :D


	11. Confusion and Kens

After breakfast, and all that Spencer shared, Morgan and Spencer headed to the living room instead of the library. Even though they all had just woken up, Spencer was looking worn out already. Morgan sat on the sofa and turned on the TV and Spencer quickly curled up to his side. Within minutes, the lanky genius was falling asleep. His head, that was already resting on Morgan’s shoulder, started to fall down the front of Morgan and on to his chest. Morgan readjusted Spencer until he looked more comfortable, with his head in Morgan’s lap and his long legs spread out on the sofa.

Morgan mindlessly flipped through the cable while brushing his hand over Spencer’s head. JJ had already left for the day, but Garcia and Rossi had just finished cleaning up from breakfast and made their way to the living room.

“Awwwwww” Garcia cooed when she saw Spencer sleeping on Morgan’s lap.

Morgan smiled but stilled his hand, feeling embarrassed about soothing Spencer’s hair. Once he stopped Spencer let out a small groan. Rossi chuckled, “I think he wants you to keep doing that.” Rossi said before swiping the TV remote from Morgan’s hand and sitting down.

“Hey!” Morgan whisper yelled as he started running his hand back over Spencer’s soft hair.

“Shh, you are being a pillow right now.” Garcia said with a bright smile. She sat down cross-legged on the end of the sofa, near Spencer’s feet, and pulled her laptop out of her bag, resting it on her legs. The sofa had plenty of room for all three, even if Spencer wanted to stretch out more.

Rossi turned the TV on a fictional crime show, sitting back and relaxing in his oversized one-person sofa chair. “Oh, come on, really man?” Morgan whispered to Rossi, “Don’t you get enough of this stuff at work?”

“Give it a chance. It’s hilarious.”

“How is all this horrible murder hilarious?” Garcia said with a quiet bite but didn’t look up from her laptop.

“Because they don’t get anything right. That guy,” Rossi pointed at a large man on the TV, “just put a piece of tape on the suspect’s thumb for a fingerprint and declared he was guilty because of another fingerprint that he looked at a few hours ago.” Rossi said shaking his head.

The two men watched the fictional crime show while Garcia played on her computer. They commented on and laughed at the inaccuracies while Spencer slept on Morgan’s lap.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About an hour and a half, since they all sat down, Spencer stretched slightly, causing his foot to graze Garcia’s thigh. She looked down at his bare feet and visibly cringed at the branded ‘M’ on the bottom of Spencer’s right foot. “Do… Do you think that hurt?”

Morgan, who was into the show, looked over at Garcia, “Huh? What’s up, Baby Girl?”

Garcia continued to stare at Spencer’s foot, fighting the urge to reach out and touch the roughly scarred skin. “Do you think his brand hurt? I mean, I know it probably did but.. Aren’t the bottoms of feet extra sensitive?”

Before Morgan could answer, Spencer shifted slightly and said, “The soles of the feet are extremely sensitive to touch due to a high concentration of nerve endings, with as many as 200,000 per sole.”

“Oh, sweetie.. I didn’t know you were awake.” Garcia said as Spencer sat up and looked at her.

Spencer scooted back over to Morgan’s side, leaning on him slightly but not as close as before he fell asleep. “I had just woken up,” Spencer mumbled as he rubbed his eyes in a childish fashion before looking over at Garcia. “The soles of human feet have an acute feedback that causes us to adjust our gait to fit whatever the conditions may be, and to lessen the impact on our soles and through our joints.”

Garcia looked away, feeling bad about bringing it up while he was awake. She couldn’t help her curiosity though, “But.. did it hurt? Does it still?”

“Garcia..” Morgan warned but Spencer didn’t seem upset.

He tilted his head to the side, “Of course it hurt.” He said plainly before he moved his foot up on his knee and looked at the mark. A faint smile crossed his lips as he ran his fingers across the brand. Then he pushed into it, hard, but he had no reaction. They all knew that the brand was probably at least eight years old, but it still looked extremely painful. “It doesn’t still hurt, it doesn’t anything.”

Morgan looked confused, “What do you mean, kid?”

“I have no feeling in the sole of my right foot.” Spencer said without a hint of sadness, “ _His_ mark caused third-degree burns, completely destroying the nerves in my foot.”

Garcia made a pained face, “Oh, ouch.. I am sorry that happened to you, honey..”

Spencer furrowed his brow, “Why?”

“Why what?” She asked back.

“Why would you be sorry I was branded?” Spencer asked, looking extremely confused.

“I—Uhh.. Derek, a little help..” Garcia stuttered out. While she was an expert at anything and everything computer related, she had no idea how to deal with a victim.

Morgan looked over at Rossi, hoping he would speak instead but he just watched the interaction. “Uhh.. Spencer, Penelope is sorry because you should not have been branded.”

“But.. _He_ was my owner. _He_ could do as he pleased.. _He_ said this was a sign that I was owned and loved…”

 _Fuck… That sick bastard told him that branding him was a sign of love…_ Morgan thought before asking, “Do you expect us to brand you?”

Spencer stilled for a moment, “I… You may do what you wish with me and my body.” His voice was monotone, devoid of any emotion.

Morgan was really not sure what to say. He couldn’t tell Spencer that the branding wasn’t a sign of love, that would hurt him too much. He couldn’t tell him that Maximillian was wrong, he needed to come to that conclusion himself or he wouldn’t believe it.

Thankfully, Rossi spoke up, “Spencer have you ever heard of Richard Cottingham?

Spencer nodded, “Richard Francis Cottingham aka ‘The Torso Killer’. He raped, tortured, mutilated, and murdered six women via strangulation in New York between 1977 and 1980.” He said as if he were reading straight from a book.

Rossi smirked at his impressive knowledge. He couldn’t help but wonder if he learned about that serial killer from his library or Maximillian’s. “Great. I assume you know the details of the torture and mutilation.”

Spencer nodded, “Cottingham would repeatedly cut and burn his victims. He was even known to cut one victim’s breasts off.” Garcia cringed and hugged her own chest once the words left Spencer’s mouth.

“Okay. Was Cottingham a good or bad person? Was he supposed to have done what he did?” Rossi asked and Morgan sucked in a breath of air, finally understanding what Rossi was getting at.

“Bad. He wasn’t supposed to have done that and that is why he was sentenced to life in prison.”

Rossi nodded, “You are right. Now, you said Cottingham was a bad person and shouldn’t have done what he did, but.. Maximillian also did those things.”

Spencer’s eyes went wide, “N-no.. It… It’s different…” He stammered out.

“How? He burned you,” Rossi pointed towards Spencer’s right foot, “He cut others, and possibly you… and he murdered, what? Eight times as many people as Cottingham.”

Spencer was starting to look panicked, “No.. _He_ was allowed to do that. _He_ owned us… Property is meant to be disposed of when it’s no longer useful.” Spencer said as if he was quoting what someone told him, which he probably was.

“So, you mean he bought you and the others… Several of those victims were prostitutes, which means Cottingham bought them for the night. Is that not the same thing?” Rossi said calmly. He wanted to get the boy to come to his own conclusion but didn’t want to accidentally add fuel to that fire.

Spencer started to shake his head roughly while mumbling, “No… It’s not the same.. It’s not the same.. _He_ owned me.. I am nothing but property. _He_ was good to me… I was just doing my duty…”

Rossi sighed, figuring he would try something else he asked, “Spencer, can you tell me the definition of human trafficking?”

Tears started running down Spencer’s face. “No!” He yelled at Rossi, surprising everyone.

“Spencer, try and calm down,” Morgan started but Spencer was still panicking.

“To obtain someone through the use of force, abduction, vulnerability, or deception for the purpose of exploitation in the form of sex, labor, money, slavery and/or organ removal..” Spencer forced out the definition of human trafficking, despite having said no a second earlier, but Rossi stayed silent. Spencer curled up on himself, putting his head in his hands. “No… That… That’s not me… I—I am supposed to serve others… I am supposed to be owned… If not—Then…” Sobs recked through Spencer’s thin body.

Morgan turned slightly and pulled Spencer on to his chest, holding him tight as his crying filled the room. Garcia was starting to cry herself, but Rossi just looked heartbroken. He hated that the questions he needed to ask in order to help Spencer move on hurt him so badly.

Morgan shot a glare, strong enough to do battle with Hotch’s glares, over at Rossi. Deep down, Morgan knew Rossi wasn’t wrong in what he did but right now, with a hysterical human trafficking victim soaking his t-shirt with tears, he didn’t care.

Rossi went ahead and got up, making his way to the kitchen to start lunch. Garcia quickly grabbed the remote and flipped to a random channel, which happened to be a show about flipping houses. She was just glad it wasn’t more murder.

After a few minutes, Spencer’s crying started to subside, and he was left with only hiccups. He didn’t dare move away from Morgan though. He only grabbed his, now wet, t-shirt tighter and snuggled in closer before mumbling, “I am sorry… I am so sorry, Sir…”

“Shh… You did nothing wrong, okay?”

“I—I yelled.. I said no… I shouldn’t have… Now he is angry… He is going to punish me…” Spencer’s tears started to pick back up as fear and panic took hold of him again.

“Remember what he said earlier, Spencer? No punishments, no matter what you do.” Morgan said in a low and soothing voice.

Garcia sniffed, “Oh sweetie.. You did nothing wrong.” She said, soothing her hand and over Spencer’s leg but Spencer didn’t say anything.

The two agents continued to soothe Spencer with kind words and touches until he stopped crying completely and visibly relaxed.

If they didn’t know better, they would have assumed that Spencer fell back asleep, but he continued to fidget slightly as he laid on Morgan, who was mindlessly watching the television and running his hand through Spencer’s long flowing hair.

“Lunchtime,” Rossi said out of the blue from the kitchen doorway, surprising everyone.

Garcia stood up first, “Come on, pumpkin,” She said, holding her hand out for Spencer. He reluctantly peeled himself off of Morgan and took her hand. Holding it while they walked to the kitchen table. Garcia, who had yet to have much time with Spencer and properly befriend him, was glowing as she held his slender hand.

Lunch was awkwardly silent. Garcia tried repeatedly to make some sort of small talk, but nothing really panned out. Spencer also barely ate, sticking to only his white rice and not daring to touch the soup or bread he was also given. When he was done he placed his spoon down, put his hands in front of him, and bowed his head, “Thank you for the meal, Master David.” His voice trembled slightly. It was clear that he was still scared he would be punished for yelling and saying no.

Rossi sighed, “Polpetto.. Spencer. Look at me, please.” Rossi continued once he looked up, “I know you know that I told you we wouldn’t punish you, yes?” Spencer nodded, “But you are still scared?” Spencer nodded again. “What can I do to make you feel better?” Rossi asked but Spencer looked painfully confused.

After a moment he said, “I—uhh.. I have never been asked that… I.. I don’t know…” His voice was small and childlike, full of naivety.

Rossi shared a look with Morgan before standing up and moving towards the back door, looking out of the large glass windows on the door. “It’s a nice day outside. Do you want to try and go for a walk? Or maybe to the park down the road? Derek could drive so you can get back quickly if there is a problem.”

Garcia brightened up at that idea. “Ohh, that sounds so nice. What do you think, pumpkin?”

Spencer started to fidget more, “I haven’t been to a park in over thirteen years.” He said matter-a-factly.

“Oh.. Uhh…” Garcia started but wasn’t sure what to say.

Morgan reached out to touch Spencer’s hand, that was still resting in front of him, “I will stay with you the whole time. This way we can work up to shopping, okay?” Spencer looked deep in thought for a few minutes before finally nodding.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rossi decided that because Spencer seemed to be scared of just him today, Garcia and Morgan should take him to the park without him. The three of them piled into Morgan’s car before Spencer had a chance to overthink the small trip.

Morgan drove and Garcia and Spencer took the back seat. Spencer held on to Garcia tightly as they drove. The park was less than five minutes away, but Spencer fidgeted and looked around intensely the whole time, as if he were trying to take in every sight possible.

Morgan parked as close as he could to the park entrance and turned off the car, quickly getting out and going to Spencer’s side. He helped him out and Spencer glued himself to Morgan’s side, hugging his arm tightly before saying, “Are you sure this is okay? Would Aaron be okay with me being here?”

“Yeah, kid. He would be happy that you are here.” Morgan said but Spencer still looked worried. “Would you feel better if we called him and asked?”

Spencer thought for a moment. It looked as if he wanted to say yes but instead, he shook his head, “No.. I don’t want to interrupt his time with his son..” Morgan smiled but before he could say anything Spencer said, “I need my ankle restraints..”

Morgan shook his head, “No. You no longer need restraints..” _Not that he needed them to begin with.._ “Are you worried that you would run away?” Spencer shook his head no. “Okay then, let’s go, Pretty Boy.”

The three walked on the trail up to the picnic benches while Garcia made small talk, mostly to herself. It was nice out, a bit warm but still short-sleeve weather, even though Spencer was still wearing the red cardigan that Rossi gave him. The park was full of tall Virginia trees that helped shield them from the midday sun. Morgan was glad that this was a private neighborhood park and there were not many people around. Even the children’s playground was empty.

The walk to the picnic benches didn’t take long but Spencer still sat down, seemingly tired. While he would sometimes have to stay in certain positions for long periods of time at Maximillian’s house, he didn’t walk much. “This is nice..” Spencer said quietly once Garcia stopped talking about whatever she was saying to fill the silence.

Morgan and Garcia both smiled, “I am glad, Pretty Boy.”

The three walked, Spencer hanging on the Morgan’s arm for dear life, around a small trail that circled the playground before sitting back at the picnic tables. Spencer huffed when he sat down, “I am not used to walking this much.” He said, slipping off his cardigan.

“You didn’t exercise much at Maximillian’s?” Garcia asked

Spencer chuckled slightly, “I guess you could say I exercised.. Mostly cardio.” Spencer said with a smirk.

Garcia didn’t understand the joke, but Morgan ran his hands over his shaved head. _Did this kid, an ex-sex slave, just make a joke about having a lot of sex... This is a part of training they didn’t cover… Then again they didn’t cover most of this shit. Like how to pretend to own a victim, how to walk him through things as easy as showering alone, or even what to do when you start to fall for the victim.._ Morgan was pulled from his thought by two older men in tennis clothes approaching the bench that the three were sitting at.

“I have never seen you three here before,” the taller of the two men said. “Do you have your residence ID?”

Morgan stood up, “Nah man, we are visiting our friend, David Rossi. He lives at 244—”

The shorter man interrupted him, “Yeah, we know David. He doesn’t have friends like you three. Now you need to leave, this is a private park.”

Morgan chuckled, _Male Karens.._ “Chill, Ken. We are his co-workers. We,” Morgan gestured over to Garcia, “are also FBI agents. Feel free to call him yourself since you know him so well.” He looked over at Spencer, who had taken on his submissive pose. His hands were flat on the table and his head was bowed. While his hair was falling in front of his face, you could still see his distant eyes. He was no longer at the park with everyone else, he had fallen into the depths of his own mind to escape reality.

“Where is your badge then?” The taller man asked.

Morgan huffed; he left his badge with his gun in Rossi’s gun locker and Garcia left her purse at Rossi’s as well. “I don’t have it with me.”

The shorter man snickered, “Because you aren’t actually an FBI agent. I am calling the police.”

“Listen, we are allowed to be here but either way, we were about to leave. Spencer?” Morgan said and Spencer looked up, “Let’s get going, okay? We can come back later.”

Spencer stood up and grabbed Morgan’s hand, “Yes, sir.”

At that, the shorter man became visibly angry, “What the hell? Is this some type of faggot BDSM thing?” He said, eyes darting right for Spencer’s bruised neck and wrists.

Spencer looked over at Morgan and whispered, “Are these two your friends? Are they here to fuck me?”

Morgan shook his head, ignoring the last part of what Spencer said, “No, kid.”

The taller man stepped forward, overhearing the conversation. “Stop,” he said at the shorter man before looking at Spencer, “Son, are you okay? Do you know this man?”

Spencer looked over at Morgan, “Am I allowed to answer?”

Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation as he nodded.

Spencer gave a light smile to the men, “This is SSA Derek Morgan and SSA Penelope Garcia. They both work in the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI, along side SSA David Rossi.” Spencer said with confidence, despite the fact that he was avoiding eye contact. Morgan thought that they would be fine, until Spencer added, “And they are my owners.”

“They are your what?” The taller man said, looking protective over the young-looking man with layered ligature marks and ill-fitting clothing.

“They are my owners. I don’t understand your confusion.” Spencer said bluntly.

The shorter man looked concerned now as well, “What do you mean they are your owners? Did they.. buy you?”

“No, my last owner was killed, shot in the head, so they took me in,” Spencer said with a bright smile. He was honestly happy about being taken in by the BAU.

“That is enough now, kid,” Morgan said. There wasn’t much he could do about the situation. They were either going to leave or get the police called on them and then they would just have to explain it to the LPD.

“No, that’s not enough.” The shorter man barked at Morgan, “Call the police,” he said to the taller man before looking at Spencer, “You are safe now. Come with us.” The man reached forward to grab the hand that Morgan wasn’t holding, and Spencer pulled back roughly.

“No! Get away!” Spencer yelled, cowering slightly behind Morgan, who had let go of his hand to get in between the two.

“You better back the fuck up man!” Morgan roared at the shorter man and the taller man stepped forward, looking as if he were about to fight.

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice, “Calm down everyone.” Rossi said, walking up to the group.

“David! This man—” The taller man started before Rossi cut him off.

“Yeah, I know. You three head on back, I will deal with this.” He said, looking at Morgan, Garcia, and Spencer.

“Come on, Spencer,” Morgan said and reached to hold his hand again, which he happily took.

“No. They can’t just leave, that boy—” The short man started, and he was cut off by Rossi as well.

“I said I know,” Rossi said and Morgan could hear him start to explain the situation to the two men as they walked back to the car and got in.

Once they were all inside Morgan turned to look at Garcia in the back seat, who had yet to say a word. “Did you call Rossi, Baby Girl?”

Garcia, who was now the one holding Spencer’s hand, smiled, regaining her bubbly persona, “Texted, but yep” She said, popping the ‘p’ on ‘yep’.

“Good work, Momma.” He said before looking at Spencer, “You okay, Pretty Boy? Sorry, those guys ruined your trip to the park.”

Spencer tilted his head to the side, “What do you mean? I had a nice time. I would like to go home though, if that is okay. I haven’t been outside this long in years and it’s quite exhausting.”

Morgan couldn’t help but wonder how his interactions with Maximillian’s friends went in order for him to not even seem bothered by the two men. While he understood and appreciated their concern for Spencer, that was not why they came up to the three to begin with.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The four spent the rest of the day relaxing. Spencer continued reading his way through Rossi’s library. Morgan switched between reading with Spencer, watching TV in the living room and working out in Rossi’s surprisingly impressive gym. Garcia spent most of her day on her laptop, either in the library or the living room while Rossi worked at his desk in the library or prepped meals for later that week.

The rest of the day went by without a bump and they soon were all heading to bed. This time, however, Spencer asked Morgan directly if he would lay in bed with him, instead of waiting until he had a nightmare. Morgan agreed without question. He enjoyed laying next to the young man. Despite the fact that they often held hands or curled up closely on the sofa together, Morgan would not extend those platonic levels of comfort once they were in bed. He didn’t want Spencer to get the wrong idea and that was simply a line that Morgan would not cross. While he might be developing rather strong feelings for Spencer, he wouldn’t take advantage of him like that.

The two were laying on their sides of the bed, rolled up blanket dividing them, when Spencer spoke up, “Derek…”

“Yes, Spencer?” Morgan answered, his voice laced with sleep.

“I—I am not dumb..” Spencer said flatly.

Morgan turned over to face the young man, “No one thinks you are”

“I… I know what happened”

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

“With.. Me… I know… On an intellectual level…” Spencer stuttered out.

Derek stayed silent; he wasn’t too sure what Spencer was getting at.

“I know… I know… M— _He_ … was wrong.. They were all wrong… But I can’t…” Spencer’s words died out, so Morgan took a guess at what he was trying to say.

“You can’t accept it?”

“Yeah… I—I must be dumb…” Spencer said, curling in tighter on himself.

“No. Spencer, listen. Knowing and understanding are to completely different things. You were someone else’s for thirteen years.. Not understanding is just fine, normal even. Just take your time and the team and I will be here for you every step of the way.”

“Thank you, Derek.. Thank you…” Spencer said before sleep took him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it. Let me know what you think. As always, thank you all for your comments and support. 
> 
> PS. I am starting my Fall semester now so my updates might slow, not that I actually have a schedule, but don't worry, I am not abandoning any of my work.


	12. Melons and Mom Jokes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Rape, dubcon, murder, etc. 
> 
> Reminder, Frank and Jane were from season two. The strawberry milkshake and rib whistles people XD

Monday morning started the same way as it had the past few days. Everyone got up, got ready for the day, and went downstairs for breakfast. Morgan headed down the stairs and to the kitchen. Rossi and Garcia were already getting breakfast going. They exchanged their good mornings and Morgan moved to get some coffee for Spencer and himself. Then he noticed the larger than average amount of food Rossi was cooking but before he could ask, the doorbell rang.

“Can you get that, Morgan?” Rossi asked and Morgan nodded, moving to the front door. That was when he noticed a cowering Spencer halfway down the stairs.

“Spencer? Are you okay?” Morgan asked, looking up from the bottom of the stairs. Spencer just pointed in the direction of the door and Morgan understood. “Don’t worry, kid. No one bad would come here. You stay there and I will check who it is.” Spencer nodded, bowing his head slightly.

Morgan opened the door, figuring it would be a delivery man, but instead it was the rest of the team. “Oh, hey guys. I wasn’t expecting you all this morning.”

“We figured we would have breakfast with everyone before work,” JJ said as Hotch, Emily and herself shuffled inside.

“Spencer! It’s just the rest of the team!” Morgan yelled in the direction of the stairs before they heard the light pitter-patter of bare feet on the carpeted stairs.

“Aaron!” Spencer said as he ran up and gave Hotch a surprising hug, as if he were a child that hadn’t seen his parent for days.

Hotch made a small grunt as Spencer’s chest collided with his own. “Hello, Spencer.” Hotch said, patting Spencer’s back.

As quickly as Spencer arrived, he pulled back bowing his head. “I am sorry, sir… I should have asked for permission to hug you. I—”

Hotch cut Spencer off, “Spencer, son. There was nothing wrong with what you did. I am glad to see you.” He said giving the young man one of his rare bright smiles.

Spencer picked his head back up and bounced slightly on his toes over the praise before turning to JJ and Emily. “I missed you two as well! Can.. Can I hug you both?”

Both JJ and Emily agreed at the same time before they were given their own strong hug from the boy. Then they all made their way to the kitchen table. Garcia was just finishing up putting everyone’s breakfasts down as they walked in. “Oh yay! Everyone made it!” She cheered before looking over at Spencer, “Sugar, this is your seat.”

Spencer smiled at Garcia and took his seat, pulling his legs up on the chair once he sat down. Everyone took their seat, thanked Rossi and Garcia, and started eating while making small talk.

“How was your time at the park yesterday, Spencer?” JJ asked halfway through the meal.

Spencer, who had been locked in a staredown with a piece of melon on his plate, trying to figure out if he could eat it or not, looked up. “Oh! It was nice. We walked around some and sat in the sun. I hadn’t been outside that much in years.”

JJ tried not to look upset. She knew that the three were at the park for only 30-45 minutes. That is barely any time outside or walking. The team knew that Spencer spent most of his time in his room at Maximillian’s but she assumed that he was allowed outside at some point as he had a large, fenced-in yard as well as a pool and other outside entertainment areas. The thought of him being stuck inside his sex dungeon of a room, while others partied outside, made her heart hurt for him.

“Mmm… You didn’t go outside much at Maximillian’s?” JJ asked, even though she wasn’t sure why.

Spencer shook his head, “Almost never. The library had a large window though and I could sit in front of it on the floor. That was nice.” Spencer smiled at the memory, which didn’t help the pain JJ felt in her heart. “My owners before that.. place before _him_ , however, they had me outside mostly all the time.”

JJ gave Hotch a look and Hotch started, “What did you do there?”

Spencer didn’t look up at Hotch but instead picked up his piece of melon and studied it. Despite his internal struggle with the fruit, he answered Hotch, “Manual labor, mostly. It was a large farm, no books.” Spencer pouted. “We slept in this cage thing outside that one of the owners made. I didn’t stay there long.”

“Why not?” Garcia cut in as her optimism willed her to think there was a happy ending to his story.

Spencer gestured at his thin body, full of angles, and lacking any real muscle definition. “I am not really built for manual labor. _He_ once told me that my body was meant for pleasuring others, not working for them.” Again, Spencer smiled at the memory of Maximillian’s insult.

“Spencer, you know you aren’t meant for other people’s pleasure, right?” Emily asked with the worried eyes she gives victims.

“Okay,” Spencer said. Emily wanted to reassure him further, knowing that he didn’t actually believe her, but Morgan shook his head. He knew Spencer knew the truth. He knew he was abused and used but he just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Which was fine, thirteen years of abuse can’t be done overnight.

The conversation lulled away as everyone finished up their meal. Hotch’s sudden chuckle got everyone’s attention though. He was looking at Spencer, who had a sour look on his face. He had finally won his battle with the piece of melon and took a small bite, only to find it was sour.

Despite his clear disdain for the fruit, Spencer went to take another bite but Hotch stopped him, “Spencer, you don’t have to eat that if you don’t like it. No one will be upset.”

Spencer looked over at Rossi, as he was the one that made the food, “Don’t worry. You can eat and not eat what you want.” Rossi said but Spencer still looked a little uneasy.

Hotch tilted a small bowl on his plate up, “See Spencer, Rossi made me a bowl of fruit and I didn’t eat it. I am not a fan of many fruits. He didn’t get mad at me.” Hotch tried to reinsure the young man but Spencer’s mind quickly went to a different topic.

“Ohhhhh that makes sense!” Spencer said and Hotch gave a confused look in return. “You don’t eat fruit. That is why your cum was so bitter.” Spencer explained plainly.

Hotch and Morgan both buried their faces in their hands while the room sat in silence as everyone else tried to make sense of what was just said.

Suddenly, Rossi, Emily, and JJ were all on their feet, yelling at Hotch. Garcia looked beyond disgusted but stayed quiet. Rossi’s voice boomed through the loudest, “What the hell, Aaron?!”

Hotch quickly got to his feet as well, “It’s not what you think!”

“You have five seconds to explain yourself!” Rossi yelled, something he rarely did.

Hotch sighed, “Morgan, a little help?”

Garcia’s jaw dropped open, while JJ yelled, “You took advantage of him too?!”

Morgan stood up, “No! Never! Let me explain..” Morgan said, looking over at Spencer before continuing. He had fallen back into his submissive pose, head bowed, hands in front of him, eyes distant. Morgan wasn’t surprised since everyone was being so aggressive.

Morgan sighed, “Saturday morning Spencer went into Hotch’s room and well..” Morgan looked over at Hotch, who looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.

“Well, what?” Emily pushed

“Well… He gave Hotch.. oral.. While he was still asleep.” The faces in the room changed from anger to confusion. “When I woke up, Spencer wasn’t in bed, so I got up to find him. I walked in on it… Well, I walked in on Hotch waking up and yelling at Spencer to stop but.. uhh..”

“It was too late..” Hotch finished Morgan’s sentence with a strong look of disgust on his face.

“Oh..” JJ peeped out but Rossi looked as if he didn’t believe him.

Rossi turned towards Spencer, “Hey, Spencer.” He raised his head slightly making a hum of acknowledgment. “I need you to be honest with me, okay?” Rossi waited for Spencer to nod before saying, “Did you touch Hotch in his sleep or did he ask or tell you to touch him?”

Spencer didn’t seem fazed by the question, “I gave him a blow job Saturday morning when he was asleep. He woke up and came in my mouth, but he didn’t like that I held his cum in my mouth and swallowed… I am not sure why..” Spencer furrowed his brow at the thought “Why? Did you want a blow job as well?” Spencer’s eyes darted straight for Rossi’s crotch as he absentmindedly stood up and moved towards Rossi.

“No, no, Spencer.” Rossi backed up slightly.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot.. Derek told me, ‘nothing sexual is to happen without you telling another member of the team about it beforehand’” Spencer said, turning towards Morgan. “Can I give David a blow job?”

Garcia looked like she wanted to cry while JJ covered her mouth with her hand. The tension was palpable in the room.

Morgan was about to just tell him no, but he decided to try a different approach. “Spencer, do you actually want to do that to Rossi?”

Spencer froze, looking painfully confused, “I—I… I have never been asked that… I am not sure…”

“Oh, sweetie…” Garcia said, her eyes were already welling with tears.

“Kid, think for me. When you were told to.. service a man like that, did you enjoy it? Was it something you wanted to do or did you just doing it to make everyone happy?”

Spencer wrapped his arms around his waist and sat back down, pulling his legs up to his chest on the chair, “I—I… I enjoyed it sometimes… Sometimes… _He_ would be nice.. gentle. _He_ would care for me and l-love me… I enjoyed it then..”

Morgan tried not to cringe at Spencer saying Maximillian would ‘love’ him, “And.. other than those times?”

Spencer looked as if he were about to cry as he looked around at the team’s faces, trying to figure out if the truth was the right thing to say. He started to worry on his lip, rough enough to cause a few beads of blood to form. Before anyone could say anything, Spencer finally talked, “I—I didn’t like it… I—” Tears started to spill on to Spencer’s face, but he ignored them and turned to Morgan. “Can… May I be excused? I—I don’t wanna talk ‘bout this anymore… P-please.” Spencer sounded like a terrified child.

Garcia stood up, “Come on, sugar. I will take you to the library.” Morgan nodded and they walked, hand in hand, out of the room.

Rossi was the first one to speak up, “You should have told us when it happened, Aaron.”

Hotch simply huffed in acknowledgment. He was well aware that he should have told the team. Let everyone know the level of help Spencer needed, but telling his subordinates that the best head he ever received wasn’t from the woman he had been with since high school, but instead, a former male sex slave who thought he was following orders was easier said than done.

“Are… you okay?” JJ asked cautiously and Hotch just nodded, sitting back down in his chair.

“Well, at least he admitted that he didn’t enjoy it,” Emily said with a hint of humor, but it was lost on the room.

Hotch sent Emily a glare before saying, “That is actually a big step, saying that he didn’t want what happened. It’s something.”

Morgan nodded, “Yeah.. Last night he told me he thinks he understands what happened to him was wrong, but he can’t get his mind to accept it.”

Rossi, who had visibly relaxed at this point, nodded as well, “Good.. This is uncharted territory for all of us so some progress, really this early on, is an accomplishment.”

The room grew quiet and still before everyone started picking up their plates and making their way to the sink. Once the table was clear, JJ noticed Hotch check his watch. “What is work going to look like for us today?”

Hotch moved to the living room and the rest of the team followed. Once they were all situated on the sofas and chairs, Hotch started again, “In about an hour Agent Andi Swann and Agent Katherine Cole, the head of the Crimes Against Children Unit, will be at the BAU to interview Spencer.”

“Hold up, man. Why does he have to go there for the interview? You saw him, he doesn’t do car rides well.” Morgan said, feeling protective over the young man.

“I thought he did fine at the park yesterday?” Emily interjected

“He did, but not in the car. He looked terrified..”

JJ sighed, “Well.. It sounds like the only time he was driving somewhere before was when he was.. sold..”

“Shit.. I didn’t think about that..” Morgan said before looking back up at Hotch, still waiting on an answer to why Spencer had to go to the office for the interview.

“Strauss believes that we are getting too close to this case, too close to Spencer..” Hotch’s face softened ever so slightly, “Let’s be honest though, it isn’t a lie. We have never been this personally vested in a victim before—”

“There is just something about him…” JJ cut in.

Hotch nodded, “I know.. I am not faulting anyone for us becoming this close to Spencer. I am just as guilty as the rest of you… It’s fine though. Strauss doesn’t care as long as it doesn’t affect our work and Spencer is, on paper, treated like everyone else. This means that he would have to go to the office to be properly interviewed now that he is no longer in the hospital.”

“Still doesn’t seem fair,” Morgan mumbled, earning nods from his team.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotch told Spencer that they would need to go into the office, and he agreed silently. He went upstairs, got his socks and slides, no one bothering to tell him that people normally don’t wear socks and sandals, and waited by the front door. He seemed calm but distant.

Spencer held Morgan’s hand as they walked to one of the cars. Spencer stopped before getting inside the vehicle though. “What is it, kid?” Morgan asked when Spencer didn’t climb in.

“Are… I am not being sold.. Am I?” Spencer said quietly, his loose shirt making him seem even more like a sad, terrified child.

Morgan wanted to wrap Spencer up in a hug and never let go. To drown his fears and insecurities with love and kindness. “No, kid. I would never get rid of you, none of us would.”

The car ride was short, about 25 minutes to the BAU from Rossi’s mansion. Spencer was a nervous wreck. Shaking, fidgeting, on the brink of tears before he took a deep breath and willed himself to dissociate. As he breathed out, his mind went with him. Carrying him somewhere far away, somewhere safe.

When the two cars pulled up to the FBI, Garcia is the first one to get out. She moved as fast as she could in her pink high heels to Spencer’s door, opening it. “Sweetie, we are here!” She said holding out her hand for him. He blinked and shook his head slightly as he came back to reality and took her hand. They held hands all the way through security, in the elevator, across the bullpen, and into the conference room. Once they were inside and the door was shut, Spencer finally relaxed.

Garcia pulled out a chair for him, “Come on, sweetie. Sit here.” Spencer quickly took his seat once Garcia sat next to the chair. Morgan reminded him that he could sit how he wanted. Once he said that, Spencer was pulling his legs up on his chair and hugging them, making himself unrealistically small in the office chair.

After a minute, a tall woman with short brown hair walked into the room cautiously. She was followed by another female agent that looked completely non-threatening.

“Spencer?” She said as she came into the room, “My name is Katherine Cole. Feel free to call me Katie. Is it okay if my friend, Amber, and I ask you a few questions?”

Spencer looked at the two women coming into the room but didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his head to Hotch who understood the silent question, “You are allowed to speak freely with them.”

Spencer nodded and looked back at the two women, “That is fine, ma’am.”

The two women took seats across from Spencer and Garcia. Amber placed her notepad on the table and started to write the date and time. It was clear that she was only here to write down everything Spencer said while Katie asked questions.

Hotch shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “I thought Swann was going to be here for this as well.”

“She wanted to, but her team is following a lead with this case right now. They shouldn’t be much longer, but she wanted us to start without her.” Katie said, “Oh, one of her agents is in the evidence room. He has a video he wants your team to see.”

Spencer’s face grimaced when Katie mentioned a video, but he didn’t say anything.

Hotch stepped closer to Spencer, leaning down slightly to get to his height while he sat. “Hey, is it okay if we step out for a few minutes?”

Spencer tapped his fingers on his black lounge pants nervously, making Hotch think about how much the young man needed new clothes.

The team had gotten used to Spencer’s appearance but out here, in public, everything about him screamed victim. His wrists and neck were still coated in layered bruises. They were fading so they shined a sickening yellow and purple. His overly long hair was clean but was clearly long from lack of attention, not by choice and his clothes were ill-fitting. His shirts were all too big while his pants were a bit too snug, making him look even younger than he was.

Hotch cast the thought away when he saw the worried look on Spencer’s face. “It’s okay. We won’t be long, and Garcia will stay with you.”

Spencer relaxed at that and turned to Garcia, “You will stay?”

“Of course, pumpkin!” Garcia chimed and Spencer nodded yes to Hotch. With that, the team left. Morgan ruffled his hair on his way out.

Once the door was shut again, Katie started, “Okay Spencer. So, I heard you have an impressive memory.”

“Mhmm, eidetic memory, ma’am.”

Katie smiled, “That is great. We are going to try and use that to help others, okay?” Spencer nodded slowly, as if he was worried it was a trap. “We are going to start at the beginning when you were first put into foster care. Our records say that you were with a woman, ‘Marie Williams.’ Is that correct?”

Spencer nodded again.

“Good, how long were you there?”

“Eight months, 23 days.”

“What happened?”

Spencer started to tell Swann a painstakingly detailed account of the homes he was at. The first home was with Marie, who sold the foster kids that the state forgot to check back up on to other families that wanted children but were legally not able to adopt for one reason or another. Spencer told her every name he remembered, every detail he thought might help. It took some time as he was passed around to multiple homes as a child. He was an odd one, too smart, too awkward, no family wanted him for long.

He started to talk about the farm he had told the team about earlier that morning when he heard someone screaming from outside the conference room. He got up without warning, thinking that someone might be hurt or in danger. He opened the door and immediately recognized the man that was yelling.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The team quickly got to the evidence room, only to find that it had been completely taken over by evidence from Maximillian’s case. In the corner of the room, there was a plain-looking man, nose deep in a record. He looked up when he heard the door, “Oh, BAU team I assume?”

“Yes, Katie said that there was a video you wanted us to see,” Hotch said

“Yeah, I got it here. We keep uncovering more videos on his PC or on drives around his estate, most of the video is similar to what we have been seeing, that boy—” the man started but Morgan cut him off.

“Spencer. His name is Spencer.”

“Okay.. _Spencer_ being raped in one way or another,” The agent started, “But this one was a bit different. So Swann said you should see it.” The agent hit a button, causing the video on the screen by the far wall to start more than halfway in.

*

This time the camera was facing the side of Spencer’s bed. There was a middle-aged white man lying on his back on the bed. He was fully clothed except for his pants and boxers, which were pushed down mid-thigh. On top of him was a very naked Spencer, wearing only his collar, fucking himself on the stranger’s cock. Bouncing himself on it relentlessly.

Morgan had a passing thought about how Spencer had the leg strength to ride that man as he was, but got winded from a walk in the park, before he looked away, towards the corner of the video, in order to shield himself from what Spencer was having to do and to give him some privacy. JJ was also looking away from the video.

They heard the man dirty talk and degrade Spencer, telling him what a whore he was or how he was worthless. Spencer never faltered. He continued to work himself on and off the man, in and out, while making vulgar moans despite not being hard himself.

Then the man said, _“Fuck, where did you learn how to ride dick like this? I bet your whore of a mom taught you, right?”_ Once the words left the man’s mouth, Spencer’s hips stopped. As if the man didn’t notice or understand, he kept going, _“Ya’ll take turns fucking your daddy, huh?”_ he said but Spencer was already climbing off of the man and off of the bed.

The man sat up, _“Where the hell are you going? I paid good money for your twink ass, now get the fuck back here!”_ He yelled but Spencer silently walked over to a closed-door within the camera’s view, most likely a bathroom, and kneeled by the door. The man threw himself out of the bed, pulling his pants up but leaving them undone. _“What the fuck, bitch?! Is it because I talked about your goddamn mom?!”_

Spencer’s eyes widened when the man said the word ‘mom’, but he still didn’t speak.

The man walked over to Spencer and kicked him harshly in the ribs. _“Fuck you, mommy’s boy! Your mom is probably glad you aren’t in her life anymore. She is probably a used up dry whore with a loose cunt and—”_

 _“Shut the fuck up!”_ Spencer yelled, standing up. His face was full of confidence and anger. He looked as if he was going to kill the man with his bare hands and feel good about it.

 _“Oh, did I hit a nerve?”_ The man said sarcastically, _“I bet you take after your mommy, just a set of holes for people to use. She is probably a crazy piece of—"_ The man wasn’t able to finish his sentence before Spencer was attacking, causing everyone that was watching the video to flinch.

Video Spencer was at least 75 pounds smaller than the middle-aged man. He landed blow after blow on Spencer’s naked body to try and get him to stop but Spencer didn’t seem to care. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth but continued to try and harm the bigger man. He looked feral as he attacked the man, scratching, biting, kicking, anything he could do before there was the sound of a door opening and a different man yelling, _“Stop! Both of you!”_

It was Maximillian. Morgan’s fist clenched when he came on to the screen. He pulled Spencer off the man by his waist while giving the man a shove to back off. Spencer was still flaring about as Maximillian tossed him on to the bed. _“Sit.”_ He commanded and Spencer, not breaking his glare with the other man, got into a kneeling position on the bed.

Maximillian pulled the handkerchief out of his suit jacket pocket and tossed it at Spencer, _“Get the blood off your face,”_ and Spencer followed his order immediately while Maximillian looked over at the man, who was also bleeding from his nose and scratches along his cheeks. _“You hurt my property.”_ He hissed, pulling a gun out of his waistband, and pointing it at the man, _“You want to fucking die?”_ The man shook his head, suddenly looking terrified. _“Then get to talking. You better have a good reason for making him bleed.”_

 _“I didn’t do anything! He randomly stopped fucking me and then attacked me when I asked him what his problem was!”_ The man lied. Morgan ground his teeth in anger. He was furious; he looked over at his team members and could see that they were angry as well. They knew that Maximillian killed his slaves that did not follow orders. This man could have gotten Spencer killed.

However, Maximillian didn’t lower his weapon off the man after being told that Spencer attacked the man first. Instead, he cocked it. “ _You did something. He knows better than to not follow orders.”_ He said sharply before looking over at Spencer, who was still kneeling on the bed holding the handkerchief to his nose. _“Pet, what happened?”_

Spencer lowered his hand from his nose and his lip quivered but he didn’t say anything.

Then Maximillian said, _“Speak. Tell me now.”_

Spencer took a deep breath, trying to calm down. _“He made fun of my mother, sir.”_ Was all Spencer said before a boom, followed by a bloodcurdling scream could be heard through the speakers. Morgan heard JJ gasp at the scene.

Maximillian, without looking, moved his gun over slightly and shot the man in the arm. _“You said you didn’t do anything."_ He growled at the man, who was now on the floor, holding his bleeding arm.

 _“Arhhhh.. Please, Max! I am your friend! I have known you and your brother since college!”_ The man begged but Maximillian just laughed.

 _Brother.. Maximillian had a brother?_ Morgan thought to himself after the man yelled but he didn’t speak up.

 _“You say you know me, but you still lied to my fucking face!”_ Maximillian yelled at the man before turning back to Spencer. _“Should I kill him? I think he deserves to die for hurting you.”_ Everyone was surprised that Maximillian was asking Spencer, but no one interrupted the video.

Spencer shook his head no.

 _“No? Speak.”_ Max ordered.

 _“He doesn’t deserve death, sir. I did attack him first. I am truly sorry, sir.”_ Spencer said before bowing all the way down until his head was flush with the bed, legs still under him, and hands on the bed by his head.

Maximillian huffed, _“Come suck him off.”_ He ordered randomly. Spencer didn’t question it. He jumped up, kneeled beside the man, pulled his already unbuttoned pants down, and got to work. Putting the man’s flaccid member into his mouth, despite the groans from the man.

The scene was barely visible because of the location of the camera but it was still easy to see Spencer follow his orders. It went on for a few minutes, before the man started to moan, blood finally pooling towards his groin instead of his bleeding shoulder. Once the man started to seem as if he were really enjoying Spencer’s mouth, another loud boom could be heard through the speakers.

This time audible gasps and a few curses came from the team as they realize what had just happened.

Maximillian shot the man in the head, killing him instantly and sending blood and brain matter around the room, and all over Spencer who had still been giving the man head.

Spencer sat up; blood splattered on one side of his face. His eyes looked dead, as if he were fighting with his own mind to not react to what just happened. Despite his effort, a few tears ran down his pale, bloody face.

Maximillian tucked his gun back into his waistband and walked over to Spencer, crouching next to him. To everyone’s surprise, instead of punishing him for crying, he wrapped his arm around him and pulled him in for a hug.

 _“He hurt you without permission. He deserved to die.”_ Maximillian said in a lighter tone than normal, _“Let’s get you cleaned up.”_ He said before pressing a kiss into Spencer’s hair and standing up. Spencer stood up, wrapped his arm around Maximillian’s, something he also did with members of the team, and they walked into the bathroom.

*

The agent then turned the video off and it was as if the room had frozen over. Everyone was silent and still. There was so much in the video to take in. So much horror, so much information.

The silence was broken by Rossi, who simply mumbled, “Damn..”

Hotch cleared his throat and smoothed his hands over his suit jacket, trying to recompose himself back to his typical stoic self before saying, “What did we learn from this?”

“That Spencer is even more of a badass than I thought,” Emily said with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

“To never make fun of Spencer’s mom,” Rossi added but JJ made a sour face at the ill-timed humor before speaking up.

“That the relationship between Maximillian and Spencer was.. strange..”

Hotch nodded, “It is important that we know to be careful when talking about Spencer’s late mother, but Maximillian and Spencer’s relationship is not like anything I have seen between an unsub and victim before..”

“It’s almost as if Maximillian was in love with Spencer.” Emily proposed but that upset Morgan.

“How the hell was _that_ ,” Morgan gestured wildly to the screen, “love? First, he forced Spencer to have sex with that guy, then forced him to.. give oral.. to the guy that just beat the shit out of him right before he shot him in the head. When Spencer was _right_ there, after he asked him not to kill him!”

“That’s another thing, he asked Spencer what he thought about killing that man. That is not typical at all.” Rossi added, not reacting to Morgan’s outburst.

“You know.. It reminds me of Frank Breitkopf and Jane Hanratty..” Emily said

“That psychopath that killed like 175 people and basically kidnapped Jane Hanratty because he was strangely obsessed with her?” JJ asked and Emily nodded.

“He loved Jane as much as he could being a psychopath, but he was still horrible to her. He treated her more like a collectible, claiming she was perfect for him.”

Rossi was not in the BAU for the case, so he stayed quiet but Hotch spoke up, “I can see that… Frank kept killing, not able to find another victim like Jane, just like Maximillian kept buying human trafficking victims and killing them when they were not like Spencer, selling the ones that were similar to him but not the same.”

The team kept batting around thoughts about Maximillian’s behavior for a few more minutes but there was something Morgan couldn’t get out of his mind. He interrupted whoever was talking and said, “Brother..” He earned several confused looks from his teammates before he kept going. “That man said that he had known Max and his brother since college… I thought Garcia said he didn’t have any family?”

“Maybe it was just an expression, like friends that call each other siblings or cousins..” Emily proposed

Morgan shook his head, “He was just shot, and the gun was still pointing at him, that’s not really time for expressions..”

Hotch looked at his watch, “I will ask Garcia to look again but it would probably just be easier to ask Spencer, who we should be getting back too.”

The team shuffled out of the room into the bullpen only to see Agent Andi Swann leading an irate, screaming man towards the interrogation rooms. He was a white male, graying hair, about 6’2”, 180 lbs. Morgan noticed a pinky ring with a golden ‘V’ on it and he realized who this man was.

This was the man that made Spencer drink his urine.

Morgan felt himself start to move towards the man but was stopped due to a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Hotch, giving him a stern glare. He had also made the connection to who that man was.

“Get the fuck off me, bitch!” The man yelled at Swann before trying to buck away from her, but she wasn’t having it.

Morgan watched the scene in front of him before hearing a door open. He looked up to see Spencer, standing at the conference room door. His arms were wrapped around his waist tightly, as if he were trying to protect himself. He was staring at the man, who also noticed him and started an onslaught of words at him.

“You fucking did this! You used up, cumdump! You're nothing but a fucking toilet! You—” the man yelled before he was given a sharp push into an interrogation room.

Spencer, surprisingly, took the insults in stride. Morgan didn’t even see him flinch. _Probably used to being degraded and insulted daily…_ He thought before he saw Spencer’s eyes go wide and a smile painted across his face as he looked over towards the elevator where a scared looking woman was standing.

“Kate Ellis?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think! Thanks!! :D
> 
> Thank you to those of you that have sent me suggestions on this fic through my anon box. I have read them and taken them into account, please don't be offended if I don't use them or I change them slightly. I love the ideas and to see everyone's thoughts


	13. Clothes and Conclusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read responsibly :D

“Kate Ellis?” Spencer said from in front of the conference room door, looking towards the elevators.

Morgan looked over to see a scared-looking woman standing next to two members of Agent Swann’s team. Kate was an all-around petite woman, thinner and shorter than JJ. If Morgan had to guess, he would say she was 5’1” and 100lbs at most. She had wavy shoulder-length black hair and caramel-colored skin. Her small hands were holding an emergency blanket tightly around her shoulders. Morgan couldn’t help but wonder why she was in the BAU and not the hospital.

Kate looked up slowly and breathed out, “Spencer?” It sounded more like a sigh than a question.

The woman took a step forward as if to go to Spencer, but he was already heading towards her. He all but ran down the walkway into the bullpen and to the elevators, stopping a foot in front of her. He silently looked her over, checking for any visible injuries. “Are you okay?” Spencer whispered, as if he were not allowed to talk.

“I am great now,” Kate said with a smile, despite the tears in her eyes. “You helped me, yet again.. They,” Kate looked over at the two agents, “said you would be here. That you told them what they needed to find me.” Kate reached out to grab Spencer’s hand, letting her blanket fall off her shoulders which revealed that she was only wearing a small white tank-top and a pair of FBI shorts that were tied to keep them from falling off, but Spencer backed away.

“No!” Spencer whisper-yelled, “You aren’t allowed to touch me..” He looked terrified and looked back at the team. Morgan stepped forward to calm Spencer down, but Kate spoke first.

“Spencer.. You aren’t there anymore.. You are free to do what you want..” Kate reached forward again, just barely brushing her fingers against Spencer’s own. “They.. They told me you had been at Max’s for over eight years…”

Spencer nodded, “Eight years, three months, and 9 days.”

“I—I am so sorry..” Kate said as tears started to run down her impossibly young-looking face.

Spencer furrowed his brow, “Why?

“What— Several reasons.. For not being able to help you. For.. what you had to do to help me.. and what I had to do to you.. I—”

“I would do it again,” Spencer said, interrupting Kate.

Kate wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, “Wait.. What?”

“I would do it again,” Spencer repeated himself before looking at the floor and holding himself tightly, “I—There were so many… Too many people that I couldn’t help… and..” Spencer paused, looking back up at Kate, giving her a small smile, “I am glad I didn’t have to clean your blood off the floor.”

At that, Kate started to sob. Loudly crying into her hands before launching herself into Spencer’s arms. He froze and looked over to Morgan for approval as Kate wrapped her arms around Spencer and buried her face in his chest.

“It’s okay, Pretty Boy. You can hug her.” Morgan said and Spencer cautiously wrapped his arms around her.

Morgan had completely forgotten that the rest of the team was still standing next to him, also watching the two ex-sex slaves comfort each other, until Hotch walked up to the two agents that brought Kate in.

“Why is she here and not at a hospital?” Hotch asked, taking a case file that the dark-haired agent was holding and starting to flip through it.

The file was about Kate. She had only been missing a few months, reported missing by her new husband. He filed the report under her maiden name, Khalid. Despite the fact that she was already calling herself Kate Ellis, she was legally still Kate Khalid, making it hard for Garcia to find a missing person’s report on her.

One of the agents spoke up, “We told her about Spencer, and she insisted that she come here first to see him. She doesn’t seem injured, but we are taking her there next.”

Hotch looked over to the woman that was still being held by Spencer. She was covered in goosebumps and looked freezing in her thin tank top. “Why isn’t she wearing more suitable clothing?” Hotch asked, seemingly angry at the woman being freed from sexual slavery but still having to wear barely any clothing.

“This was all we had in the vehicle and she refused to wear the hospital gown the EMTs tried to give her.” The other agent said but Hotch just huffed.

Spencer overheard the interaction, “She is allowed more clothing?” He asked with his painfully innocent disposition, still holding Kate.

“Yes, Spencer.. We just don’t have anything for her at the moment.” Hotch said.

Without hesitation Spencer backed slightly away from Kate, pulled his own shirt off of his thin body, gathering it up, and slipped it over Kate’s head. “There.”

Kate automatically slipped her arms through the sleeves and the shirt, that was already too large on Spencer, swallowed her minuscule frame. It took Kate a moment to understand what happened, “Spencer? I can’t wear your shirt. Here—” Kate moved to take the shirt off, but Spencer placed his hand on her own.

“Please, you should be covered…” Spencer said with a smile. It didn’t make sense, as her being clothed met that he was topless, but Kate left the shirt on.

“You have already done so much… I—He didn’t kill me because of you, you know.. He told me that he didn’t even want me, I was just an excuse for him to see you alone and to make you.. do what you did.” Kate said, shifting uncomfortably, “He planned on bringing me back to Max’s with another woman and seeing if he could trade us for you… He said he had never.. had.. someone that handled his kink so well.”

Surprisingly, Spencer let out a small chuckle. “I am well trained to be used in any way my master sees fit,” Spencer said with a hint of a smile. “I had never drunk that much urine before, but piss play is more tolerable than scat play, so I am glad he wasn’t into coprophilia.” He said almost as if he were just thinking out loud. He was just trying to look to the brighter side of things but everyone within earshot looked sick.

Even Hotch cringed at the thought of Spencer being forced to participate in sex involving urine or feces. He quickly pushed his feelings aside and spoke up, “Spencer, son. I think it’s time for Kate to go to the hospital. They need to make sure she is okay.” Hotch said gently.

Spencer nodded his head and looked back down at Kate, “Do you have a family?”

“Yeah, I talked to my husband and mom on the way here.. They are going to meet me at the hospital,” Kate said, pushing herself back into Spencer’s bare chest.

Spencer hugged her close, “Good. Hold on to them..” He said and Kate pulled back away, thanked him again, and left, tears still running down her cheeks, with the two agents.

Spencer just stood there in silence, staring at the FBI elevators that Kate just left through. The room was frozen as everyone was thinking about what Spencer said to Kate and how he doesn’t have any family. Other than the BAU, Spencer was completely alone in a world he hadn’t really been a part of for over thirteen years.

JJ was the first one to break the silence and approach him, “Spence, she will be okay. You saved her life. You—”

“I need to thank him,” Spencer said, interrupting JJ.

“What?” JJ asked

“I need to go thank him. He was true to his word and didn’t kill her even though he didn’t want her. I need—” Spencer started but this time Emily cut him off.

“Spencer, you can’t talk to him. He raped you.” Emily said from her spot over by Morgan and Rossi.

Spencer shook his head roughly, “No he didn’t. _He_ allowed him to be with me.”

“Oh, sweetie..” JJ sighed out. Even though they all knew that Spencer didn’t view what happened to him as rape, it was still hard to hear.

Rossi took a step closer, “But did you _want_ to have sex with him?”

Spencer wrapped his arms around his bare torso, “I—I… Yes.. because that is what _he_ wanted. I will always want what my owner wants for me.” Spencer said as if he were repeating a script.

“So if we told you to go into that room,” Rossi said pointing at the interrogation room that the man was in, “And have sex with him, to drink his urine like you were forced to do before, that would be something you would want to do?”

“Rossi..” Morgan warned when he heard the bite in Rossi’s tone.

Rossi wasn’t angry at Spencer, but at the situation. Spencer had no self-regard, which was one reason why he was currently standing in the middle of the FBI BAU bullpen half-naked. He did what he was told and only fought when it came to the lives of others. He was willing to give up his own bodily autonomy, even the shirt off his back, for others. While this was admirable and saved multiple lives, it was also harming Spencer and getting in the way of his healing.

Spencer’s eyes went wide at Rossi’s question, and he started to shake as he dug his nails into the porcelain skin of his narrow waist. He looked as if he was having an internal struggle over doing what he was told and whole-heartedly not wanting to have sex with that man again. A few tears ran down Spencer’s face as he looked around the room at his new ‘owners’. They had yet to hurt him, yet to make him do anything he didn’t want to do. He had only been with them for a week, but it was the longest he had gone in eight years without being forced into some type of sexual activity.

“P-please..” was all Spencer could muster. It wasn’t a direct no but combined with the tremble of his chin and the tears in his eyes, the meaning was clear.

Hotch, who was the closest to Spencer, placed his hand on Spencer’s shoulder, internally cursing himself when Spencer flinched. “You don’t have to do anything, okay? Dave was just trying to get you to see what _you_ actually want… Now, what do you want Spencer?”

Spencer relaxed slightly and soothed his hands over the red crescent marks he made on his sides, “I—Uhh.. I don’t want to get in trouble..” He said just above a whisper.

“You won’t, honey,” JJ said, giving a kind and motherly smile.

“O-okay.. umm.. I don’t want to have sex with him again.. But I do still want to thank him.. is t-that okay?”

Hotch exchanged looks with Morgan, before nodding his head. “Yes, but Morgan and I will come with you.”

Spencer smiled and the three men made their way over to the interrogation room door where the man, Agent Swann, and another one of her agents were at.

Hotch went to knock but Morgan stopped him, “Hold up, he needs a shirt or something before he sees that asshole.” Before Hotch could say anything, Morgan breathed out, “Oh!” and pulled his own sweater off, revealing a gray t-shirt underneath. “Here, Pretty Boy.” Morgan slipped his sweater over Spencer’s head, just as Spencer had done with Kate.

Spencer pushed his arms through the sleeves before rubbing the sleeve on his face and inhaling deeply. He smiled at the soft feeling of the well-worn sweater and the familiar scent of Morgan. “Thank you, Derek! Can.. Can I keep it?” Spencer looked up at Morgan with his big hazel doe eyes.

Morgan couldn’t help but smile at how cute he was in his sweater. It was too big on him and hung off the shoulder. It was a royal purple, which Morgan thought looked the best on the young man. It complemented his pale skin and golden long hair. But most of all, seeing Spencer in his clothing made the alpha male in him thrilled.

Morgan pushed away the thought and ruffled Spencer’s hair, “Of course, kid.”

Hotch knocked on the door but opened it up before hearing anyone inside the room tell him he could come in. He walked into the interrogation room first, exchanging looks with Agent Swann. She noticed Spencer standing in the doorway and understood. She stood up, motioning for her subordinate to follow her as they both stepped out of the room.

Hotch moved over to the man, seeing the FBI folder in front of him with the name John Warner on it. “John, there is someone that wants to talk to you for a minute. You are going to sit right there and listen.” Hotch said in a deep and authoritative tone. John rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Hotch double-checked John’s handcuffs before calling Morgan and Spencer in.

John’s eyes grew wide and a sickening smile painted across his face. “Well, well.. If it isn’t Max’s little bitch.”

Spencer got down on the floor into a kneeling position before Morgan could stop him. There was something different about this kneel though. His eyes weren’t lowered, and his hands were simply resting on his lap, not facing upward. It was still submissive, but it had a hint of deviance to it.

Spencer took a deep breath before saying, “ _He_ is no longer my owner.”

John snickered, “Oh, is that why you are kneeling before me like he taught you and you still won’t even say his name?”

Spencer’s face tightened but he ignored what he said, “I want to thank you for keeping to your word, sir.”

“Of course. What is a man if he is not true to his word? To bad though, I wanted to trade that cunt for you. Wouldn’t you have liked that? Being mine. We had fun, didn’t we?” John asked with a smirk, knowing Spencer would say yes as he was trained to do.

To everyone’s surprise Spencer said, “No.” His voice was even, and he kept eye contact with John.

“Wha… What the fuck?! You can’t deny that you fucking loved the way I fucked you! You came all over yourself like the little whore you are!” John screamed at Spencer. He went to stand up but Hotch gave his shoulder a firm push back down.

Spencer looked up at Morgan, as if he were asking him if it were okay that he spoke freely. To Morgan’s credit, he understood the silent question and nodded yes.

“I did what _he_ told me too, but I did not enjoy having sex with you or your small cock.” Spencer said matter-a-factly. It was clear that he didn’t mean it as the insult it was, just stating a fact. Either way, Morgan, and Hotch had to fight from laughing.

John’s face shined red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger. “You useless toilet! Max would be beating your whore ass right now if he knew the way you were speaking to me.”

As usual, Spencer didn’t react to being called a degrading name. “ _He_ is dead.. _He_ doesn’t own me anymore.”

John laughed, “I thought you were supposed to be some kinda genius.” Spencer furrowed his brow and tilted his head slightly to the comment. “Oh, come on little bitch, you can’t be serious.. Let me just ask, did any of these stupid FBI agents ever find Ricardo?”

Spencer’s breath hitched as he realized what John was trying to say.

It couldn’t be true. There was no way he was telling the truth.

Spencer stood up immediately, “I—I wish to leave, p-please.” He said, not even waiting for Morgan to open the door. As he rushed out of the interrogation room, John could be heard laughing loudly. He walked quickly back to the conference room, Morgan and Hotch only a moment behind him.

He opened the door to see the rest of the BAU team, Agent Cole, and a few other FBI agents that Spencer didn’t recognize or care about. His target was Garcia, “Miss Penelope, can you pull up the photos of M… Uhh— _Him.”_

Garcia was caught off guard but opened her laptop anyway, “What are you talking about, sweetness?”

Spencer opened up his mouth and shut it a few times before turning to Hotch and Morgan, who were now in the room as well. “I need to see the pictures of _him._ ”

“He means Maximillian, Baby Girl. Can you bring up the photos of his body?” Morgan said

“Ew.. Okay,” Garcia hit a few keys on her computer before turning it towards Spencer.

The screen displayed the same photo Spencer was shown in the hospital. A body laid out on the floor, blood pooling underneath of it. The dead man had short black hair, olive skin, was tall and well built. Despite not being able to see his face as he was shot in the head and his face was obliterated, he looked just like the man they knew as Maximillian from the videos of Spencer’s torture. Spencer got closer and narrowed his eyes as if something were off.

“Do you have any more photos?” He asked and Garcia clicked the arrow button a few times, scrolling through the photos of the body, before Spencer said, “Stop, please!” His eyes went wide, and he started to shake.

“Spencer? What is it?” Hotch asked, also looking at the photo but not seeing the issue.

Spencer pointed at a small tattoo on the dead man’s collarbone. It was barely visible, but it was the letter ‘R’ done in a calligraphy type font. “Ricardo… He had that tattoo…” Spencer said at tears started to run down Spencer’s face.

“Ricardo?” Garcia asked.

“ _H-his_ brother… They were b-born only one-year a-apart… T-they had very s-similar looks…” Spencer said. His voice was trembling, and his tears picked up. JJ walked over to comfort him by putting a hand on his arm, but he flinched away violently so JJ backed off.

“I don’t understand,” Emily said. The room was a mix of horrified and confused faces as only a few agents understood what Spencer realized.

“ _He_ is still alive…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me :D I don't mean for there to be cliffhangers, it just happens. Like a natural stopping point.  
> Let me know what you all think!!


	14. DNA and Despair

“ _He_ is still alive…” Spencer said, his breathing picked up as he started to panic.

“No that’s not possible,” Garcia said, followed by Emily.

“I read the reports. The raid on his estate, the agents yelled out Maximillian’s name and he turned around to it.”

Spencer shook his head roughly, making his long curls bounce around. “No. Anyone would turn when hearing a strange voice..” He said almost to himself. His arms came up in an X shape over his chest, gripping each shoulder, hugging, and protecting himself.

“Spence, you need to calm down.” JJ tried. Spencer’s breathing was becoming erratic and he started to hyperventilate.

“ _He_ is alive… _He_ is alive…” Spencer started to mumble to himself, ignoring everyone else in the room.

Rossi tried to calm Spencer down next, “It will be okay, Polpetto. You are saf—” He started but Spencer kept mumbling to himself.

“I am still _his_ … I… _He_ is still my owner… I left _him_ …”

“No, you didn’t Spencer, you aren’t—” Hotch started but Spencer didn’t hear him.

Spencer crumbled to the ground into a kneeling position. He held himself with bone-crushing force, making himself as small as possible. “Ohh, God… No… I—I can’t… I am so sorry…”

Morgan crouched down next to him, not touching the boy. “Kid, you need to calm down, you are having a panic attack. Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth.” Morgan said but as he got closer he could see around Spencer’s hair that his eyes were distant and glazed over. He was mentally no longer in the room.

“P-please! I – am so – sorry – so sorry—I will – be good – I’ll – do anything!” Spencer started to beg to whatever he was seeing inside his mind between his rapid breaths. He was screaming and begging, and no one was able to get him to calm down.

Suddenly, Spencer slumped over onto the floor and his begging stopped.

He passed out.

“Oh shit..” Morgan said, reaching over and checking his pulse.

“He just passed out, Morgan. Help me move him to the sofa.” Hotch said, moving to the boy’s legs while Morgan grabbed under his arms.

“We need to feed him more,” Morgan said as they set him on the sofa, a task that was much easier than he thought it would be due to Spencer’s lightweight.

They stood back and looked at Spencer laying on the small sofa. His cheeks were flush and wet with tears and his long hair was a mess around his head.

The room stood in silence with the other agents in the room quietly making their exit. Agent Cole whispered to Rossi that she would have her teamwork on the information that Spencer gave her, but she would have to follow up to get the rest of the information. Then she also made her leave, leaving only the BAU members and Spencer in the conference room.

Emily spoke up first, “So.. is Maximillian really alive?

Hotch stood next to the sofa Spencer was laying on. His arms were crossed, and he had a deep frown on his face. “It would seem that way, but we can’t say for sure.”

“Didn’t they run the body’s DNA?” JJ asked and Hotch shook his head.

“They did but they had nothing to compare it too. They gathered DNA and fingerprints from around the estate but there were dozens of samples, too many to be useful to ID the body.

Morgan sighed. He was crouching in front of the sofa, running his hand over Spencer’s hair, soothing him as Spencer let out a few whimpers in his sleep. “Hotch, his rape kit.. He said he was with Max barely 24 hours before they took the swabs. They will most likely be able to pull a sample from that.”

“Good call, Morgan. Garcia, can you push that order through. Top priority.”

“Yes, sir! Right on it.” Garcia said, starting to type on her laptop.

“Yeah.. Unless he was raped by this Ricardo man too..” Emily said and JJ cringed.

“I don’t understand how we didn’t know Maximillian had a brother,” JJ said, looking over at Garcia.

She finished sending the order in for DNA comparison before speaking up, “Maximillian had almost no history. The identity was blank until fifteen years ago and was really only used for financial records.” She pulled up Maximillian Alexander’s file and turned her laptop towards the team. “See, no family history, no birth records, nothing.”

Emily shook her head, “It’s a fake identity. There is no telling where he comes from..”

“What about Ricardo?” Rossi asked and Garcia started to type again.

“Let’s see.. Let’s see.. Okay, so Ricardo Alexander is about the same. 15 years ago, he just showed up. I have a few credit checks, a speeding ticket over 10 years ago.. That’s it. No family history either.”

Hotch sighed again, “If they suddenly showed up 15 years ago, have falsified documentation and we have no DNA on record, it’s possible they are not from this country and we are looking at human trafficking on a larger scale..”

“Damn..” Morgan said quietly, still soothing Spencer’s hair, “That means that if Maximillian is still alive, he could have fled the country by now and still be in business..”

An eerie silence filled the room as everyone thought of the implications of this rapist, serial killer, and human trafficker being loose in the world. He was in the same state as them, holding Spencer prisoner for over eight years and they had no idea. If he got loose on the world, they would most likely never find him again.

Finally, JJ spoke up, “So.. what does this mean? If Maximillian is still alive..”

“Well… It means that Spencer will be in danger. He was the only victim he kept for that long and had no plans on getting rid of. We all saw the videos, he was extremely protective over Spencer, killing multiple people, even his friends, when they hurt Spencer.. I know he is already always with at least one FBI agent, but we will need to be even more careful..”

Hotch stopped for a moment and just stared down at Spencer. He didn’t expect him to have been asleep that long after passing out, but he wasn’t worried. He was sure he needed the rest.

“We also need to look at the possible fall out of Spencer believing that Maximillian is still alive, even if we don’t have definitive proof that he is..” Hotch continued. “It’s possible that Spencer will reject us in one form or another. At worst, he will fall back into the way he was when we met him in the hospital, at best he will be paranoid and scared..”

“I don’t understand.. Why would he reject us? It was less than 24 hours after we met him, and he was already cuddling with me. He trusts us..” JJ said

“Yeah..” Emily added, “He even has Morgan sleep in his bed for comfort every night.”

Hotch looked over at JJ, “You remember when we first got to the hospital, he refused to speak because it was against Maximillian’s rules. He also physically attacked Agent Swann’s team because they touched him without Maximillian’s permission.. He relaxed once I told him that he was dead, even more so when Morgan told him that we were his owners now.”

JJ and Garcia still looked a little confused, so Rossi finished Hotch’s thought, “When Spencer realized that wasn’t Maximillian, he said, ‘I am still his. He is still my owner. I left him.’ He might think that he is still owned by Maximillian even if the logical part of his brain understands that he was held prisoner. The part of him that was forced to watch and clean up after dozens of murders, that was raped and tortured, might take over. There is no way of knowing until he wakes up and this sets in.”

The room grew quiet again except for the light sound of Spencer sleeping and occasionally letting out a little whine or whimper. Morgan stayed by his side, now sitting on the floor next to the sofa, running his hand over his back or through his hair. He wanted nothing more than to see the boy get over this and live the successful life that was stolen from him.

A ping from Garcia’s laptop broke the silence in the room and pulled everyone out of their own thoughts. Garcia clicked on her laptop, “The DNA comparison is finished.”

“Already?” Emily asked.

“Both DNA samples were already on file, the just had to be compared,” Garcia explained but she had yet to look at the results.

“Baby Girl, come on. What does it say?” Morgan said quietly from his spot on the floor.

Garcia clicked the link to the results and automatically teared up. She didn’t have to say out loud what they were, the team could tell by the look on her face.

Nonetheless, Hotch moved over to see Garcia’s screen to read what they already knew, “Negative.” He said, hiding his emotions. “Test shows that the DNA from the rape kit is similar but not the same as the DNA from the body..”

JJ looked heartbroken but confused, “Similar?”

“Meaning that the DNA of the body didn’t match Maximillian’s DNA in the rape kit, but they were similar.. In other words, someone related to Maximillian..” Hotch explained before running his hand over his face the way he did when he was overly stressed.

The DNA confirmed that Spencer was right, Maximillian was alive.

“Shit..” Emily said quietly.

\--

It was another 20 minutes before Spencer started to wake. The BAU team, seeing that he was breathing regularly and wasn’t in distress, let him rest even though they were a little concerned that he stayed asleep so long. Morgan stayed by his side the whole time while the rest of the team did busywork, not going far from the young unconscious man.

Spencer woke up with a jump, gasping as he sat up quickly and surveyed the room.

“Woah, pretty boy. You are okay. Bad dream?” Morgan asked, moving to a stand but Spencer stayed silent. He looked around the room but not at anyone directly. His face grew blank and emotionless before he pulled himself off the sofa and kneeled on the floor, head bowed and hands upwards.

“Spencer, son.” Hotch started, “You are safe. Please get off the floor.”

Again, Spencer didn’t react. Didn’t speak.

Morgan’s mind went back to the first time they saw Spencer sitting in the hospital bed, he seemed totally calm, oblivious even. He looked completely tuned out to the world around him. That was what he looked like now. Spencer didn’t seem scared, just empty.. Almost as if he were waiting for an order.

Morgan didn’t say anything though. He looked over at Hotch and could tell that Hotch saw it too.

“Spencer, you need to listen to me now,” Hotch said in an authoritative tone.

Spencer’s eyebrows moved ever so slightly, as if he were confused for a moment, but he still didn’t speak or lookup.

JJ slowly walked over and crouched in front of Spencer, “Spence.. You are worrying me. Nothing has changed, okay? You are safe, no one is going to take you away from us.” JJ said in a calm in even voice, like a mother soothing away the worries of a child.

When Spencer didn’t react, JJ moved her hand out to hold his but Hotch stopped her, “Stop, JJ.” She froze and looked up, but Morgan spoke up before Hotch.

“Remember Swann saying that her agents were attacked when they touched him. He seems to be in the same mindset as he was then.. I wouldn’t risk it.”

JJ’s head filled with images of the video the team had just watched, where a very naked Spencer Reid attacked the larger man like a feral animal. She did not want to be on the receiving end of that. She nodded to Morgan and withdrew her hand, standing up and taking a step back.

Garcia, Emily, and Rossi all tried, one after the other, to get Spencer to snap out of his submissive mindset. To get him to react to them, speak, something, but nothing worked. They didn’t want to resort to commanding him, but they were running out of options.

Morgan tried last. He got down on the floor in front of Spencer, crossing his legs, and just sat there in silence. He tried to relax as much as possible, so his stress wasn’t transferred over to Spencer. Morgan’s mind was running with ideas to get Spencer’s attention. Everyone had already tried supportive words of safety and love. He needed to try something else to get him out of his head and react.

He thought hard about the little details of Spencer that he knows. Spencer was almost a blank slate, showing little of his personality other than his heartwarming kindness and love for learning and reading. _Reading… Maybe.. I couldn’t make anything worse.._

Morgan took a deep breath before reciting a quote he knew, “He is solid; immovable, iron-willed. He showed me one day his killing bottle. I'm imprisoned in it. Fluttering against the glass. Because I can see through it I still think I can escape. I have hope. But it's all an illusion. A thick round wall of glass.” Morgan paused after the quote, taking account of Spencer’s expression. His eyebrows lifted slightly, as if he was surprised by the quote.

From the profile of Maximillian, he was sure that Spencer was never allowed to speak about the vast wealth of knowledge he had in his genius head. Over the past week, Spencer occasionally would let statistics, quotes, and facts slip from his mouth. Looking thrilled as he was speaking but apologetic afterward.

While Morgan was not a genius, he was by no means dumb. He had attended Northwestern University and graduated cum laude. He was smart in his own right.

“That was ‘The Collector’ by John Fowles. Have you read that before?” Morgan continued when Spencer didn’t move. “Is that how you feel? Trapped?” Morgan let the silence sit between them for a moment before thinking of another quote that he believed Spencer knew.

After two more small quotes, Spencer didn’t have any reaction. Morgan started to worry that he was wrong in the method he chose to use but, as Hotch didn’t stop him, he kept going.

“The life so short, the craft so long to learn. The assay so hard, so sharp the conquering. The fearful joy that slips away in turn. All this mean I by Love, that my feeling. Astonishes with its wondrous working. So fiercely that when I on love do think. I know not well whether I float or sink.” Morgan recited but before he could follow up, he noticed tears running down Spencer’s face. “Spencer?”

His tears picked up quickly, sobs wracking through his body. “T-the Parlia-ment of F-fowls b-b-by Geof-frey C—Chaucer” Spencer said between sobs, surprising everyone in the room.

“That is right. Thank you so much for speaking, you are doing great.” Morgan said gently, hoping praise would calm the boy but he kept crying.

Once again Spencer wrapped his arms in an X shape across his chest, hugging himself and leaning forward closer to the ground. While he was happy that Spencer spoke and moved slightly out of his submissive position, his heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest at the sight. He wanted to hold Spencer so bad it hurt but he didn’t want to overstep.

Looking around the room at his team, Morgan could tell he wasn’t alone. Garcia was crying and JJ was fighting the tears in her own eyes. Even Hotch lost his stoic glare and had a hint of sadness painted on his face.

“Spencer.. I need you to calm down. Talk to me, please.. Can I hug you?” Morgan asked and Spencer looked up, tears clouding his vision.

He looked as if he was studying Morgan, trying to see if he were trying to trick him, concluding that a hug from Morgan was worth the risk.

Spencer nodded ever so slightly before moving forward to Morgan’s open arms. He let Spencer come to him in order to not scare him. Spencer moved slowly, wrapping his arms around Morgan’s neck. He expected Spencer to hug him and let go but instead, he climbed onto Morgan’s crossed legs and buried his face into his chest and continued to cry.

Morgan didn’t push or try to calm him down. He just whispered that he would be okay, that he was safe. He needed to let the emotions he was feeling out. The rest of the team just watched in stunned silence.

After a few more minutes, Spencer started to calm down, but he didn’t move from Morgan’s lap. “T-the Parliament of F-fowls.. My m-mom.. She to use to read me that..”

Morgan smiled, “She had good taste. I read it for my classical literature class in college.”

Spencer nodded against his chest and took a moment before talking again. “Derek…”

Morgan ran his hand up and down Spencer’s back, “Yes, Spencer?”

“I am so scared…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I had such a hard time getting the idea of this chapter down in writing. I hope you all like it, I am just not feeling it.
> 
> Kudos, Subs, and Comments, pleaseee!


	15. Love and Caring

_‘I am so scared…’_ The words rattled in Morgan’s mind as JJ drove Spencer and himself back to Rossi’s house. Spencer was clearly terrified and being in the office seemed to be making it worse, so Hotch decided that JJ and Morgan would be the best match for watching him at Rossi’s while they continued to work the case.

When Hotch brought up the idea for two team members to take Spencer home, everyone wanted to go. They all jumped at the chance to take care of and protect Spencer, especially after learning that Maximillian was still alive. Unfortunately, there was too much work to be done for the team to take a day off.

JJ pulled into Rossi’s driveway and Morgan got out and went around to Spencer’s car door. He opened the door and held his hand out, “Come on, pretty boy. Let’s get you inside.” Spencer’s eyes were distant, and he didn’t say anything, but he reached out and took Morgan’s hand.

Since Spencer told Morgan that he was scared, he had become distant and almost completely silent, but he was still acknowledging and answering the team, so they tried not to stress over it. He needed time to adjust to the fact that Maximillian was alive, but he was no longer his owner. It was as if Spencer was in a battle in his own mind over whose rules he should be following.

That became even clearer when they got inside Rossi’s house. Spencer went right upstairs to his guest room and shut the door behind him. Morgan shared a look with JJ, “Should I go check on him?”

“Probably..” JJ said back. “I don’t think he is a danger to himself or anything, but he is probably really scared.” She placed some files she was holding down on the coffee table in the living room before looking back up at Morgan, “Want me to come up with you?”

Morgan thought about it for a moment before nodding, “Yeah, part of me is worried about what he will try and do alone with another man in the room. I mean, you heard what happened with Hotch.” Morgan said with a sad smirk.

JJ cringed, “Good point..”

The two agents made their way upstairs and stopped at Spencer’s closed door. JJ tapped on the door, “Spence? Can we come in?”

Silence.

Morgan tried next, knocking a little louder, “Kid? Spencer?”

Silence.

Morgan looked over at JJ before testing the knob, it wasn’t locked. “Spencer, I am going to open the door now,” Morgan said, giving it a few seconds for Spencer to answer before he was opening the door.

The first thing Morgan noticed was the outfit Spencer was wearing was folded up on the foot of his bed. It wasn’t until he took a step in that he noticed Spencer kneeling against the wall between the bedroom door and bathroom door, naked. His head was bowed, hands facing upward on his legs, just like how he would kneel in the videos they watched of Spencer’s abuse.

“Spence!” JJ was the first one to react. She grabbed a sheet from the bed and put it around him. “Honey, what are you doing?”

Spencer started to shake but didn’t say anything.

Morgan, who had looked away once he noticed Spencer was naked, looked back over at Spencer. His white sheet was wrapped around his shoulders, it didn’t cover him completely, but it was enough. “Kid, this is not Maximillian’s place. You can have clothes now and there is no more kneeling, okay?”

Spencer looked up at Morgan slowly, “I…” Spencer started before letting out a small whimper and putting his head back down.

Morgan sat down in front of Spencer, like he did in the conference room, “Hey.. It’s okay. Nothing has changed. Me, JJ here, and the rest of the team are still here for you. We are still going to take care of and protect you, no matter what.”

Spencer’s chin quivered and his eyes welled with tears again as he slowly looked back up. After a few minutes, he finally spoke up. “I—I am s-so confused… I d-don’t understand any of this… P-please… Why aren’t I with _h-him_? Does _he_ not want me? Was I sold? I don’t understand!” Spencer’s confusion and fear were coming off of him in droves. He put his head in his hands and tugged on his hair slightly.

Morgan looked up at JJ, who looked equally speechless. Morgan sighed. He suddenly wished that Rossi or Hotch had come back with them. They would better understand what to do.

Morgan took a moment to think about the situation, _So.. We told him he is owned by the BAU team, but he thinks he was taken from Max.. or that he left him. He doesn’t understand whose rules to follow… Shit. This would be easier if he just understood that he wasn’t OWNED by anyone._ He looked at Spencer, tears were starting to run down his face. _Fuck it.._

“Spencer.. You aren’t Maximillian’s anymore because you aren’t anyone’s anymore.” Morgan started.

JJ looked surprised, “Morgan, don’t. It’s not the time.”

Morgan shook his head, “Maybe not but I don’t see how it could hurt at this point.” He looked back at Spencer, who just looked confused.

“I—I am n-not yours?”

Morgan sighed again. He knew that on some level Spencer knew what happened to him was wrong, but he just couldn’t bring himself to deal with it. _Maybe walking him through it would help.._ “Spencer, you remember today how you were talking with Agent Cole, Katie, about where you were before Maximillian’s estate?”

Spencer nodded his head slowly.

Morgan had skimmed through the report, so he didn’t have many details as to what happened with Spencer, “You first told her about all the foster homes you were in, right?”

Spencer nodded again, “T-they all wanted a c-child but e-ended up not l-liking me.. I t-tried to be good…” He stammered out.

“You _are_ good, kid. Those people should never have had children to begin with. That is why they had to buy a child instead of fostering one the regular way.” Morgan said, going on to explain the foster care system and why not all adults are able to foster and/or adopt children. Spencer seemed to accept this so Morgan kept going. “Before Katie left, you started to tell her about the farm you were at, right?”

“Yes, sir. My last foster family sold me to the McCarter farm when I was 15.”

“Okay, what do you think about that?” Morgan nudged.

Spencer furrowed his brow, “I don’t understand the question, sir.”

“You were supposed to be with a family. That is why you were removed from the house you had shared with your mom.” Once Morgan said the word ‘mom’, Spencer automatically stiffened.

Morgan could only imagine what Spencer went through. He found his mom dead, having killed herself, when he was only 11. Then he had to stay in that house all by himself after he couldn’t find the dad that abandoned him. Morgan pushed the thought away and kept going, “Do you think they were supposed to have sold you in the first place?”

Spencer looked between JJ and Morgan, “I—I was no g-good.. T-they had to find s-someone to make u-use of me..”

“No, sweetie…” JJ cut in, but Morgan kept going.

“You know, Spencer, Penelope’s parents died when she was young. She was 18. If she was younger, she could have ended up in a foster home. Would it have been okay if the first home she was in sold her if she misbehaved?”

Spencer shook his head roughly.

“You are right. That would have been wrong.. My dad died when I was ten. If I didn’t have my mom, I could have ended up in the foster care system as well. Would it have been okay if I was sold to multiple families and then a farm for manual labor?”

Spencer looked pained at the made-up scenario, “No, sir. That would be horrible.”

“Then why do you think it was okay that it happened to you?” Morgan asked flatly, not letting his emotions bleed into the question. Spencer’s eyes went wide as a few tears ran down his cheeks, but he didn’t dare to say anything.

Morgan didn’t let up. He knew from hearing so many of Spencer’s nightmares that he was sold to a place he referred to as ‘the place with the shots’ before Maximillian bought him. “What about the place with the shots, what if it was actually JJ that was there instead of you?”

“No! That can’t happen!” Spencer yelled, looking up at JJ. He was starting to panic just at the thought of JJ having to go through what he did.

JJ sat down in front of Spencer, next to Morgan. “That won’t happen, sweetie, but it also should have never happened to _you_.”

Spencer put his head back in his hands, “No.. I don’t understand.. Please, stop…”

Morgan hated not listening to Spencer’s pleas, but this needed to be said. “What happened there shouldn’t have happened to you, or Emma, or Megan, or Willie. None of you.” Morgan said, remembering a few of the names off Spencer’s list that he gave Agent Swann. “Just like it shouldn’t happen to JJ… Spencer.. I need to make sure you understand this. I know you said you thought you understood what happened to you over the last 13 years, but you just couldn’t get your mind to process it. Let me help you process this.”

Spencer’s crying picked up, “I don’t w-want too.. I d-don’t want to t-think about it.” Spencer’s eyes started to grow distant.

“I know, kid, but it needs to happen.. Now, Maximillian bought you next, right?” Morgan knew the answer, but he needed to keep Spencer from disassociating.

Spencer nodded his head yes.

“Maximillian…” Morgan huffed, he didn’t know where to start, “He killed several dozen people. Was that something he should have done?”

To Morgan and JJ’s surprise, Spencer shook his head no. _That’s a start.._

“Good.. You’re right. He shouldn’t have killed anyone. I am proud of you for saying that.. Now, Kate Ellis. She was bought and sold by Maximillian. Was that something that he should have done?”

This question seemed to confuse Spencer. “I—Kate.. No. None of them should have been bought or sold..”

Morgan automatically picked up on what he was saying, “So, you think it’s okay that Maximillian bought you?”

Spencer didn’t move or speak, but he looked deep in thought.

“What if it was Aaron, Spencer?” Spencer shot his head up to look at Morgan, “What if he was in your place? If he was the one that Maximillian bought. If it was him who was chained to the wall, forced to be naked or wear dresses, forced to be _used_ by Maximillian and anyone else he saw fit for over eight years? Would that be okay?”

Spencer roughly shook his head again, “No! It’s different than that!”

“How?”

“ _He_ loved me! _He_ took care of me!” Spencer yelled, gesturing with his arms wildly.

JJ covered her mouth with her hand at the comment. They had all seen some of the horrible videos of what Maximillian put Spencer through.. That wasn’t love at all. Then it hit Morgan, _Maximillian was probably the first person to show him affection of any kind since his mom died when he was 11. Even then, his mom was severely mentally ill. There is no telling what their relationship was like._

“No.. Spencer.. That wasn’t love.” Morgan stopped for a moment, wishing JJ wasn’t in the room for what he was about to say. “When I was younger, not much younger than you were when you were bought by Maximillian, I became close to a man, Carl Buford.” Morgan paused and took in the look of concern on Spencer’s face. Morgan was sure, given his IQ and personal trauma, Spencer already knew where the story was heading.

“My dad had died; I was getting into trouble in my neighborhood and things weren’t looking up for me. That was until Carl took me under his wing. He got me into football, got my record expunged. He took care of me, loved me.” Morgan got a little quieter, “That was until he took me to his cabin. He gave me something to drink… He touched me, even after I told him I wanted him to stop.” Morgan took another moment to think about his words but before he could continue, Spencer spoke up.

He leaned forward and rested his thin, pale hand on Morgan’s knee. “I am so sorry you went through that, Derek..”

Morgan almost wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Spencer, an ex-sex slave, that had been raped countless times, was trying to comfort him for something that happened to him about 15 years prior while dealing with his own trauma. 

Morgan placed his hand over Spencer’s, “It’s fine, really. It’s something I have moved past but.. you know what helped me?” Spencer tilted his head up, as if he were asking what it was, “I realized that Carl didn’t care about me, he didn’t love me. If he did, then he would have never done that to me..” Spencer slowly took his hand away from Morgan, as he understood what he was getting at.

“Spencer, listen to me.. Maximillian did _not_ love you..” Morgan said, keeping his voice loud, and even so Spencer fully heard him.

Spencer wrapped his arms around himself and started to cry again, “Stop, please..”

Morgan didn’t let up, “That was not what love is like. You weren’t his. You were a victim of human trafficking.”

“Derek.. Please, stop.”

“Maximillian tortured and raped you repeatedly and let others do the same.”

“Stop!” Spencer screamed, his breathing was rapid and heavy tears rained down his face.

Morgan felt horrible for not stopping earlier but he needed to say one more thing, “You aren’t Maximillian’s anymore and you aren’t the BAU’s. Just like Kate Ellis, you are free now.. But I promise you, Spencer, we are not going to stop taking care of you as long as you let us.. And I promise you that we will show you what love really is..”

Suddenly, Spencer pushed himself into Morgan’s arms. Morgan opened his arms just in time to catch the boy. He curled up in a ball on Morgan’s lap with his arms tightly around the back of his neck, similar to how he was in the conference room.

JJ got up and wrapped the sheet back around Spencer’s naked body as he continued to loudly sob on Morgan’s chest.

Several minutes went by before Spencer’s sobs started to die down. “Spencer, let’s get you into the bed, okay?” Morgan said gently and Spencer nodded his head but didn’t move. “Do you want me to carry you to the bed?” Spencer nodded again. Morgan couldn’t help but smile at how cute that was. He scooped Spencer up, one arm behind his knees and the other around his back, and carried him to the bed. Spencer never let go from around his neck until he was completely in bed.

Morgan quickly pulled the blanket up around Spencer, as his sheet had fallen again. JJ flicked on the desk lamp and walked over by the door to turn off the overhead light. Morgan started to climb off the bed to slip off his shoes, which he forgot to take off at the door, but Spencer spoke up, “Please don’t leave, Derek..”

Morgan pulled his shoes off and got right back in bed, again, pulling a rolled-up blanket up between their bodies so they wouldn’t touch, “I wasn’t planning on it, Pretty Boy. You just rest up; I will be right here when you get up.” Morgan said, giving Spencer a warm smile.

“Thank you, Der..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update but I NEEDED to get something posted. It's just sad that I have gone this long, totally not like me, sorry!
> 
> Let me know what you all think, thank you sooooo much for the support and love.


	16. Be Used, Be Owned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief depiction of rape that is separated by ~~

Spencer thanked Morgan and hugged on to his pillow tightly. His tears had stopped, and nothing was left but an occasional hick-up from his sobs. He laid there next to Morgan, desperately wanting to reach out and hold the older man but he knew Morgan’s rule about no touching while they laid together.

 _I have to follow the rules._ Spencer thought to himself. He had dozens of rules, but he felt his eyes glaze over as he dug deep in his own mind, thinking of the six main rules he was given by Maximillian.

**_Follow the rules given by your owner only._ **

**_Do not speak unless told._ **

**_Be obedient._ **

**_Be useful._ **

**_Be used._ **

**_Be owned._ **

_No! Derek said I was free.. What even is free? … Like after mom died and I was alone? No one was there to tell me what to do. I could sleep, eat, read, whenever I wanted…. But it was so damn lonely.. I don’t want that! **Be owned.** I need to be owned! I need an owner to love me! _

Spencer could feel his breathing pick back up again as his own thoughts were starting to throw him into a panic. Morgan noticed too.

“Spencer? You okay?” Spencer heard Morgan say, pulling him out of his thoughts. He double blinked before looking up at Morgan. His head was resting on a fluffy pillow in a crisp, clean white pillowcase only a foot away from his own.

Spencer nodded but didn’t say anything. **_Don’t speak unless told._**

_No… That’s not true anymore… Right? But He is still out there. He probably wants his property back. I need to follow His rules for when He comes back… But… They wouldn’t let anything happen to me.. Right? Aaron, David, Emily, JJ, Penelope, Derek.. Derek… He wouldn’t let anything happen to me… But I am still His…_

Spencer closed his eyes. His mind was in a battle between the facts he was told and the training he was put through. _Derek said, ‘You weren’t his. You were a victim of human trafficking.’ I know this.. I knew this the whole time… I think… but… Why is that so hard to believe? This was easier when I thought He was dead.. I can’t be His if He is dead.. but now.. Will they let him take me back?_

Morgan’s voice pulled him back out of his head. “Come on, kid. I can see you are still panicking over there. Talk to me.”

 ** _Be obedient._** Spencer cleared his throat and did what he was told, “I—I am still just confused, I guess..”

“That is completely fine. Can I clear anything up for you?” Morgan asked quietly.

Spencer thought for a moment before speaking, “ _He_ is going to try and get me back, won’t he?”

Morgan looked sad for a moment and Spencer didn’t understand why. “Yeah.. He probably will but don’t worry, okay? We are not going to let him take you again.” Morgan said firmly but for some reason this confused Spencer even more.

“Because.. I am _not_ _His_?”

Morgan smiled and Spencer felt himself smile slightly in return, “Yes, exactly, pretty boy.”

“But… I am also _not_ yours?”

“Yes. You aren’t anyone’s anymore. You are free.” Morgan said, still smiling but Spencer lost his own smile.

 ** _Be owned._** “But what if… What if I don’t want to be free?”

Spencer heard Morgan let out a long sigh and he immediately shut his mouth. _I said something wrong.. **Do not speak unless told.** Damnit.. I am so stupid… _

To Spencer’s surprise, when Morgan started talking again, it was sweet and caring as always. He wasn’t met with the anger he was expecting. “Spencer, being free doesn’t mean that we are going to leave you, or you will be alone. You will only be alone if that is what you want. If you don’t want to stay here with Rossi or me or anyone else on the team, then we will help you get your own place and a job and all that. Do you want that, or do you want to stay with us?”

Spencer could tell by the sound of his voice that he would be accepting of whatever he decided but Spencer didn’t even have to think twice. He knew he wanted to be with the BAU team. _Am I allowed to talk now?_ Unsure, he untucked one of his hands from his soft comforter and pointed at Morgan, who chuckled lightly at the gesture.

“Then you can stay with us and we will take care of you, okay?” Morgan said but Spencer still wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth, but he nodded anyway. “Good. Now get some rest. Like I said, I will be right here when you get up.”

 ** _Be obedient._** Spencer nodded his head and closed his eyes. He was so tired, but he didn’t want to sleep. He laid there and just listened to the sounds in the house instead. He heard the light sound of Morgan breathing, a light electrical hum that he determined was coming from the lamp, and a small creak of a door further down the hall opening which Spencer guessed was JJ.

After a few minutes, he heard Morgan move around before settling back down on his pillow. Spencer heard a strange click sound that he vaguely remembered hearing last time Morgan opened his cell phone around him. He realized he was correct when he heard the sound of keys. _He is probably telling the rest of the team that he is stuck in bed with me. That I am too wea—No.. stop it. Derek has never been mean to me… I just – Ugh!_ Spencer took a deep breath. He was sick of his mind messing with him and hearing all the sounds around him, so he willed himself to dissociate.

Eyes still closed; he focused on some of his best memories. He is in bed with his mom, she is sick but lucid. She is reading him one of her books, _“On a night, as this creature lay in her bed with her husband, she heard a sound of melody so sweet and delectable, that she thought she had been in Paradise, and therewith she started out of her bed and said: 'Alas, that ever I did sin! It is full merry in Heaven.'—”_

~~

Spencer wasn’t sure when his dissociation turns into a dream but sure enough, he was there. He hung onto every word his mom read to him of the Margery Kempe work in her hands, pushing himself closer and closer to her. He swore he could almost feel her warmth. His mom paused her reading for a moment and Spencer braved his voice, “Mom.. I miss you so much..”

His dream mom looked down at him with the weak smile he remembered so well, but when she opened her mouth, the words aren’t her own, “ **Do not speak unless told.** ” It was _his_ voice.

_No no no no no no! Stop!_

He squeezed his eyes tight.

_I am not there. I am not there. He is not here._

Spencer slowly opened his eyes back up, but he wasn’t in his mother’s bed anymore. He was naked in his old bed at Maximillian’s house. His mom was gone and in her place was _him._

 **“Follow the rules given by your owner only.** I am still here. You are still mine, my pet. It seems like you have forgotten who owns your ass!” Maximillian yelled in his dream. His nightmare. Before he climbed on top of Spencer, “Time for you to remember your rules, bitch.” He said before unbuttoning his pants, pulling himself out, and lifting Spencer’s legs enough to line himself up with his hole.

**_Be used._ **

Then.. One hard thrust.

~~

“No! Stop!” Spencer woke up screaming. He couldn’t stop his body as he threw himself out of bed and kneeled on the floor, head bowed, hands facing up on his lap.

“Spencer… Hey, it’s okay.” Spencer looked up to see Morgan crouched on the floor in front of him. Eyes full of worry but his face was full of strength and trust.

“Sorry.. I—Nightmare.”

Morgan nodded, “Do you want to talk about it?” Spencer crinkled his nose at the thought and shook his head, no. He didn’t want to think about it again. “Okay, I will always listen if you change your mind.” Morgan reminded him before he stood back up. “The rest of the team is here. I was actually just about to wake you up, it’s almost dinner time. Are you feeling up to eating?”

 _No.._ Spencer thought but he didn’t dare say that. Instead, he said, “Yes, sir.” and stood up.

Morgan diverted his eyes as Spencer was still naked from earlier that afternoon and he walked over towards the door. “No ‘sir’, remember pretty boy?”

Spencer internally cursed himself for forgetting, yet again, that that was one of the team’s rules. **_Follow the rules given by your owner only._** _Wait.. No.. They aren’t my owners… Right?_ Spencer sighed. His head hurt from bouncing between the mindset he had been forced to have for years in order to survive and this newfound freedom. Spencer nodded to Morgan, even though he wasn’t looking at him, which was another thing he found confusing.

Men always looked at him when he was naked. Straight men, queer men, it didn’t matter. They all looked at him like they were animals, and he was the prey. Looked with want and need painted in their eyes but for some reason, Morgan never looked. None of the team looked but he had been around Morgan the most. There were more opportunities for Morgan to look, but he didn’t. He wanted to ask but he assumed it wasn’t his place to question him.

“Please put your clothes back on,” Morgan said, gesturing to the outfit he was wearing earlier that day was now sitting on top of his dresser. “Ima use to the restroom in my room and be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” Spencer said, wasting no time getting his clothes, which included Morgan’s sweater, back on.

True to his word, Morgan was right back. They walked downstairs and to the kitchen together and were both greeted by the whole team. Rossi was cooking with Garcia’s help and everyone else was at the table, making small talk and enjoying some of Rossi’s wine. Spencer stayed quiet, offering input when asked but not actively engaging.

Despite Spencer not actually wanting to help in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but ask if he could. **_Be useful._** Of course, he was turned down.

With that, Spencer let his mind drift. He reread a non-fiction book in his head that he read in Rossi’s library his first day. _“—A few miles later, we are on highway 280, heading towards the outskirts of Daly City. I look to my right and see a sign that reads, ‘THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HIGHWAY IN THE WORLD.’ The officer smiles with relief, as we leave the city limits. ‘David Pelzer,’ he says, ‘you’re free.’ ‘What?’ I ask, clutching my only source of food. ‘I don’t understand. Aren’t you taking me to some kind of jail?’ Again, he smiles, and gently squeezes my shoulder. ‘No, David. You have nothing to worry about, honest. She is never going to hurt you again.’ I lean back against the seat. A reflection from the sun hits my eyes. I turn away from the rays as a single tear runs down my cheek. ‘I’m free?’—”_

A hand on Spencer’s shoulder brings him out of the book, _A Child Called ‘It’._ He had read the book so quickly the first time, he didn’t give himself time to think about it. He blinks a few times before looking over at the hand, it was Hotch. He looked around the table to find everyone had left and his white rice and chicken were eaten. He disassociated through his whole dinner.

Hotch took a seat next to Spencer, facing him head-on. “There you are. Where were you?”

Spencer furrowed his brow. He hadn’t gotten up. “Here?”

Hotch chuckled slightly, “I know that, son. I mean, in your mind. Where did you go?”

 _Oh._ “I was rereading a book.. in my head..” Spencer said but Hotch looked like he wanted him to keep going, “Uhh.. The boy.. in the book.. He also didn’t understand that he was… f-free.”

Hotch nodded. “Mor—Derek told me that he talked with you. I know you must be confused.. Can you tell me what is bothering you the most?”

 **Be obedient.** Spencer took a moment to just look at Hotch. He didn’t seem to be tricking him. Then again, he couldn’t always tell when Maximillian was tricking him either. Hotch had yet to trick him though, only show him love and support. Spencer took a deep breath, “I—the rules. I can’t stop thinking about them..”

“The rules? Whose rules?” Hotch asked gently. Spencer wondered for a moment if Hotch always sounded so kind or if he was using a voice he only reserved for victims and children.

“ _His_ rules. _He_ had so many but there were six main rules… I know, logically, I don’t have to follow them anymore but—” Spencer let his words fade out but Hotch filled in what he didn’t say.

“They are ingrained in you.”

Spencer nodded. “It was easier before… Before I found out _he_ was still alive. I just had you all, your rules but now… I am _his_ again.. I mean— I don’t know.”

Hotch shook his head, “You aren’t anyone’s. Even if Maximilian is still alive. That doesn’t change anything. You still aren’t his.”

“ _He_ will come back for me… _He_ loved—” Spencer stopped midsentence, “Derek said that wasn’t love… I don’t think I know what love is..” He suddenly felt heartbroken and he put his hand on his chest, “I… I really thought _he_ loved me..” Spencer felt like he was going to cry again. His emotions were high and on edge. He couldn’t make sense of how he was feeling but he didn’t like it at all.

He watched as Hotch took a slow, deep breath, as if he were trying not to speak from his own emotions. “People don’t hurt people they love, really on purpose.”

This didn’t help Spencer’s confusion, “That’s not true… My mom.. She would sometimes get confused… and..” He let his words die out again. He hated talking about his mother. He missed her so much it physically hurt.

“She was sick, Spencer. Did she ever hurt you when she was lucid?”

Spencer thought for a moment before shaking his head no.

“Has the team ever hurt you?” Hotch asked and Spencer didn’t have to think this time, he shook his head no right away. “Spencer, we might not own you, but we do love you.” Hotch said, looking Spencer dead in the eyes.

 **Be used.** “But.. Why don’t you use me? I tried to pleasure you and you got upset. I have tried with David and Derek as well, but they always turn me down. I am supposed to be used.” Spencer said and he noticed a pained expression on Hotch’s face that didn’t make sense to him.

“Is that one of the rules?” Hotch asked and Spencer nodded. “Spencer… People don’t use the ones they love either. Sex is supposed to have an equal amount of want and desire between you and your partner, not just one partner wanting and the other giving to make them happy. Sex also needs to be discussed, agreed upon, and consensual.”

Spencer knew this. He had read books about sexual consent before but the idea that it applied to him was so foreign. Nonetheless, he nodded his head.

“Okay, let’s join the rest of the team in the living room and we can talk about those rules,” Hotch said and got up. Spencer followed his lead but reached out and held his hand. He wasn’t too sure if it was allowed but he loved the gentle physical contact. He was so used to being touched all of the time, normally roughly and/or sexually, he loved the soft, platonic touches the team gave him.

Hotch held his hand to the living room and brought him over to the sofa, gesturing for him to sit between Emily and Morgan. Hotch went over to sit on the sofa with JJ and Garcia, while Rossi sat in an armchair by himself.

Spencer pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged on his seat cushion before pulling his hands inside the long sleeves of Morgan’s sweater that he had put back on. He started to rub the sleeves on each side of his face before he realized Hotch was talking, “—help Spencer with these rules.” Spencer caught just the end of what Hotch was saying before he continued, “Spencer, will you tell us the rules you used to follow?”

Spencer looked around the room to make sure everyone looked okay with him doing this before he spoke, “ _He_ gave me six main rules to follow. **‘Follow the rules given by your owner only. Do not speak unless told. Be obedient. Be useful. Be used. Be owned.’** …” Spencer looked around the room again and no one looked angry, but Garcia and JJ looked sad. He wondered if he did something wrong, but he kept going, “It feels… weird to say them out loud. _He_ would have me write them down when I first got there. I filled six notebooks before _he_ believed that I knew the rules.”

Emily spoke up first, “How would you feel about us giving you a replacement set of rules?”

“More like guidelines.” Rossi added, “There would be no punishments if you can’t or don’t follow them, but they will help you.”

 **Follow the rules given by your owner only.** “But.. you guys don’t own me…”

Morgan reached over a put his hand on Spencer’s knee to get his attention. “Remember what I said, just because we don’t own you, doesn’t mean that we won’t take care of you. This would be a set of guidelines to replace the rules and to help you heal.”

“How do you feel about this, Spencer?” Hotch asked.

Spencer knew he should think about it more but the idea of getting rid of _his_ rules was too nice. “Yes, please. I would like that.”

“Since you had six rules and there are six of us, how about we each make you one guideline?” JJ suggested and Hotch agreed.

Spencer sat patiently as they all seemed to be thinking about what they were going to say. After a moment, Hotch spoke up. “I will go first—” but Garcia cut him off.

“Hold on,” She pulled her oversized bag onto her lap and Spencer had a fleeting thought about how nice it would be to have a bag as well before she pulled out pink stationery and a purple pen with a little glittery fluff ball on the end. “Would you like to write them down, pumpkin? I mean, you don’t have too.”

 ** _Be useful._** Spencer reached out and took the notepad and pen. “Yes, thank you.” He rested the stationary on his leg and put his pen down, writing a number one before looking back up at Hotch.

The team each took a turn saying their guideline, adding on details when needed, and reminding him that he didn’t have to follow any of them, and it was fine to still be confused over what rules/guidelines to follow. Spencer stayed quiet and diligently wrote down every ~~rule~~ guideline.

When they were done, he looked down at his paper and smiled. He found himself happier than he thought he would be seeing the list his newfound family made for him. Tears started to run down his face on their own. “T-thank you all so much..”

**_Aaron: Be Respectful of Others and Yourself._ **

**_JJ: Surround Yourself with Supportive People._ **

**_Rossi: Owe No One but Yourself Forgiveness._ **

**_Penelope: Have A Positive Mindset._ **

**_Emily: Be Yourself._ **

**_Derek: Be Truly Loved._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write. I hope you all liked the twist of seeing the world from Spencer's POV. Let me know what you all think!  
> Fun note: Adding this makes over 300k words I have added to AO3. I am happy with this and I thank you all for the love and support you have shown me. 
> 
> The quotes were from The Book of Margery Kempe and A Child Called 'It' (this book is so sad but great.)


	17. Books and Boners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mention of drugs and rape.

The rest of the night was spent just relaxing. No one wanted to go home and be away from Spencer. A movie was put on and everyone, except Rossi, fell asleep in the living room with Spencer.

Spencer was the first to fall asleep, with his head in Morgan’s lap and his feet on Emily’s. Garcia got them blankets and shortly after Emily and Morgan reclined their seats back, grateful that Rossi’s sofas had reclinable ends. Soon, they both fell asleep as well. Rossi made a comment that he was too old to sleep on a sofa but instead of going to his bedroom, he went to a guest room just down the hall from the living room.

Garcia fell asleep next, slipping off her heels and curling up into a ball on the sofa while JJ fell asleep in one of the reclinable ends. The last to fall asleep was Hotch. He had moved to Rossi’s armchair and watched over his team, but mostly Spencer, until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.

Hotch was also the first to wake up. The first thing he did was take account of his sleeping team. He noticed Spencer was still in the same spot, although he had moved further up on Morgan. Most of his torso was curling on Morgan’s lap and Morgan’s hand was on Spencer’s hair, as if he were soothing him at some point.

Hotch didn’t hear Spencer wake up with nightmares at all last night, which was great, but he knew that sometimes Spencer would simply whimper in his sleep instead of waking up screaming.

Hotch also noticed that his feet were no longer on Emily’s lap, but beside her leg. Emily’s hand was resting on Spencer’s calf in a protective manner, as if she were making sure he was still there. Hotch knew that they couldn’t spend every night with Spencer to make sure he was safe and happy, but it seemed right at least last night.

He stood up and stretched before smoothing the work clothes that he slept in back out. As he moved towards the door, set on grabbing the team’s go-bags so they could all freshen up before work, he accidentally kicked the coffee table. The heavy wooden table made a loud thud against the hardwood floors.

Before Hotch had enough time to understand what was happening, Spencer was jumping up off the sofa. He threw himself on the floor and into his kneeling position. Morgan and Emily also jumped awake due to Spencer’s movements. While Morgan’s eyes scanned the room for danger before finding Spencer on the floor, Emily grabbed at her belt for the gun that wasn’t there. She had yet to spend much time with the young man and wasn’t used to his erratic responses to sudden noises.

Morgan crouched down next to Spencer, “Hey, Spencer. It was just Aaron, everything is fine. Right?” Morgan looked up at Hotch and gave him a look telling him to agree.

“Yes, sorry Spencer. I just accidentally hit the table with my leg.” Hotch said and Spencer looked up at Hotch, then the table, then back at Hotch but didn’t say anything.

Morgan leaned forward and slowly tucked Spencer’s long hair behind his ear so he could see his face. “Hey, it’s okay. Let’s get you off the ground.” Morgan said before holding his hand out for the young man.

Spencer looked at Morgan and cautiously took his hand, following him to sit back on the sofa next to him but not letting go of him. After a moment, Spencer spoke up, “Sorry.. Is your leg okay?”

Hotch gave him a warm smile, “Yes, just fine. Since you are both up, why don’t you two go get ready for the day.”

Morgan pulled his cell phone from his pocket and checked the time. “Good idea, come on, pretty boy.”

Spencer nodded and followed Morgan upstairs, leaving a still freaked out Emily on the sofa. The two split up in the hallway, going to their own guest rooms to shower and get dressed.

When Morgan finished his shower, he wrapped the towel around his waist and went to the dresser that his go-bag was sitting on, only to find that it wasn’t there. _Damn it…_ Morgan thought. He had completely forgotten that Garcia had switched out his go-bags while he was laying with Spencer the day before. She put the new go-bag on Spencer’s dresser, as that was where he was at the time. Meaning he would have to go to Spencer’s room for clothes.

Morgan huffed, made sure his towel was on all the way, and headed to Spencer’s room. He knocked on the door, “Spencer! My clothes are in there. Can I come in?” He said loudly through the closed door, but Spencer didn’t answer so he went ahead and opened the door. “Spencer?” Morgan asked, looking around the room. The bathroom door was shut, and he could vaguely hear the sink running.

He went ahead and grabbed his go-bag and decided to just get dressed there, as Spencer wasn’t in the room and he didn’t want to walk down the hallway naked again. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a pair of boxers, slipping them on first. He dug through the bag again for a work shirt when he looked up to Spencer standing in the open doorway of the bathroom.

“Oh, sorry kid. I hope I didn’t scare you. Penelope put my bag in your room.” Morgan said, looking through his bag again.

“I—O-okay..” Spencer stuttered out, shifting awkwardly in the doorway.

Morgan looked back up, “Hey, you okay?” Once the words came out of Morgan’s mouth he understood the issue. Spencer was raking his eyes up and down Morgan’s almost naked body. He was squirming slightly and biting his lip. Morgan couldn’t help but notice something else, he was hard. However, similar to when he got an erection when he gave Hotch an unwanted blowjob, he was indifferent to it. He didn’t try and hide it or adjust himself. He didn’t acknowledge that he was straining against his lounge pants at all.

“Oh, umm.. Yes, Derek. I am fine. Was there something I can do for you?” Spencer asked.

The question sounded innocent enough, but he knew what Spencer meant. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t want to do something with Spencer, someday, but not now. He wouldn’t dare to make a move with Spencer while he was still confused on if he were supposed to be used or not. Morgan took a deep breath, “No, Spencer. Remember, you don’t do that anymore.” Morgan said before pulling his shirt on.

Spencer started to walk to the door, still hard in his pants, “O-okay. I will see you downstairs then.”

“Wait, hold on,” Morgan said and Spencer stopped dead in his tracks. He tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. _This was not covered in my FBI training…_ “You are.. you know,” Morgan said gesturing towards Spencer’s crotch.

Spencer looked down at himself and back up, “Yes?”

_Yes what? Does he not know, or does he not care?_ Morgan thought to himself, “You.. Well, you have a boner, kid.”

Spencer nodded his head. “I know. You are quite attractive, and an erection is a common physical reac—”

Morgan cut Spencer off, ignoring the attractive comment, “I know what it is.. What I am saying is that you can’t just go downstairs like that. It’s not appropriate.”

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, “I don’t understand..”

“Wha—” Morgan started but then it hit him. _Spencer became a victim of human trafficking when he was 12, before puberty._ While Spencer was a genius and learned a great deal by reading Maximillian’s library, he doubted that his library had any sex-ed books. “You can’t openly have an erection around others, it’s considered rude and might make them uncomfortable. You need to.. Uhh.. take care of it?”

“What do you mean?”

_It’s too early for this.._ Morgan ran his hand over his head, trying to think of the right thing to say. “Well.. most guys either wait for it to just go away or they.. well, touch themselves.”

Spencer looked back down at his clothed erection, that had started to waiver, “Are you saying you want to touch me?”

Morgan was caught off guard by the assumption, yet he wasn’t sure why. He figured he would be used to Spencer thinking someone was just trying to use him by now. “No, no, Spencer. I mean.. Like by yourself.. in private.”

“Oh, masturbate. I am not allowed to do that. _He_ owns all of me, even my pleasure. I am—” Spencer started but then looked confused, “I mean.. I—” He let his words die out.

Morgan took in Spencer’s confused expression and understood the issue. He was battling with the rules Maximillian gave him and the fact that he no longer had to follow them. “It’s okay. You are allowed to do that again.” Morgan said before adding, “In private, at appropriate times, that is.”

Spencer shifted awkwardly, “I.. uhh.. I have never done that alone before..”

Morgan wasn’t sure what to say to that so he figured he would try and reassure him, “That’s completely fine, Spencer.. Listen, why don’t I talk to Hotch and we can find some books about that kinda stuff for you. That okay?”

Spencer smiled at the idea of a new book, really one that could answer some of the questions he had, and nodded his head, “Yes, sir!”

Morgan couldn’t help but smile as well. He looked Spencer up and down and noticed his erection had dissipated. “Why don’t you go ahead downstairs and ask Penelope to make you some coffee. I will be down in a few minutes.”

Spencer agreed and headed downstairs while Morgan finished getting dressed. Once he was done he headed downstairs too. He could already smell someone, most likely Rossi, making breakfast for the team.

On his way to the kitchen Morgan ran into Hotch, who was looking at a few case files and drinking coffee in the living room with Emily. “Hey, Hotch. Gotta minute?”

Hotch set the folder down, “Yeah, what is it?”

Morgan looked at Emily before turning back to Hotch. He was debating if he should mention this in front of her, but he was positive that Spencer wouldn’t care. He probably would have told her himself if the topic came up. “Well.. Uhh… Spencer needs a few books.”

Hotch chuckled, “What could he need that isn’t in Dave’s library?”

“Books on puberty and masturbation,” Morgan said bluntly and Emily choked on the sip of coffee she was taking.

Hotch tried to keep a straight face but he was caught off guard as well. “Alright.. But why?”

“Yeah, I mean.. He is twenty-five. That’s well past puberty and the other.. He was a sex slave.. I am pretty sure he knows about that.” Emily added.

Morgan sighed, “He went through puberty while he was owned by someone else and was never allowed to do.. that alone. This is the same kid that I had to walk through each step of taking a shower because he wasn’t allowed to shower alone for over eight years.”

The words that Emily and Hotch heard Maximillian say in the first video they had to watch of Spencer’s abuse rang in their heads. _“That’s because you are mine. Everything about you, even your pleasure, is mine. You are lucky I let you cum at all. Property shouldn’t be allowed to orgasm.”_

Emily made a sour face, “Okay, I get it. I have to ask though, how did that conversation even come up?”

Morgan groaned, “In short, he got an accidental boner and didn’t understand why he couldn’t just walk around with it. It was awkward..”

“Accidental?” Hotch asked, narrowing his eyes.

Morgan groaned even louder, “He walked in on me changing..”

“Hold up,” Emily started, “He is actually gay? Like.. Even after all he went through?”

“I don’t think he even knows what he is, but it doesn’t matter. His trauma and his sexuality are two _very_ different things.” Morgan said with a bite. The mindset that someone is attracted to someone else just because of the trauma they went through is the same rhetoric that kept him from coming out as bisexual for so long. “I mean, you wouldn’t question a straight woman for being straight after being raped by a man, why would you do it with a possibly gay man?” Morgan added.

“I didn’t mean anything bad. It just must be harder.” Emily said.

“Spencer was also told not to touch any woman for eight years. He is going to have a hard time no matter what his sexual orientation might be.” Hotch said but before Morgan could say anything else, they heard Rossi yell from the kitchen.

_“Breakfast!”_

The three agents headed to the kitchen but Hotch stopped Morgan with a hand on his shoulder. “I will get Garcia to order some books for him.”

Morgan nodded, “Just make sure they are for adults. If she gets him some children’s ‘Your Body and You’ book or something that looks like they handed it out in middle school sex-ed, he will probably be insulted.”

Hotch grinned, “I am not sure if he knows how to be insulted, but I will let her know.”

They made their way into the kitchen and took their seats. Morgan sat next to Spencer, who was blowing bubbles into his iced coffee and giggling. Morgan was still amazed at how innocent Spencer could seem. In many ways, he still acted like a child, until he spoke that is. Most of his words were either highly intelligent or filled with trauma. Morgan pushed the thought out of his head and simply sat back and watched the young man go between blowing bubbles to cautiously snacking, as if he weren’t allowed to, on the cut in half grapes that Garcia had put in front of him.

Breakfast went a lot smoother than dinner the night before had gone. Spencer made small talk and seemed a little happier now that he had his new guidelines. Morgan even caught Spencer toying with the folded-up piece of pink paper that he had written the new guidelines on before he shoved it back in his pocket.

JJ and Emily started to clean up from breakfast and Hotch looked over at Spencer, “We are about to leave, please go get your sandals on.”

Garcia laughed, “Daddy Hotch.” She joked.

Hotch gave her a glare, “Says the one that cut his grapes in half.”

“I wanted to make sure he didn’t choke!” Garcia shot back.

They both laughed and turned to look at Spencer, hoping he was laughing as well but his eyes were wide and full of fear.

“Spencer? What is it, pumpkin?” Garcia asked but he didn’t say anything.

Hotch took a moment to think about the interaction before it hit him. He vaguely remembered something Spencer had said about a man he referred to as ‘Daddy’ being too rough with him, leaving bruises in his mouth and throat. “Spencer, son. It’s okay. Penelope used the word ‘daddy’ to say I was being fatherly to you. It’s just one of the ways people use that term, alright?”

Spencer’s chin trembled slightly but he nodded and silently walked over to the door to put on his slides over his mismatched red and purple socks. Hotch had to wonder if he was still worried about the use of the nickname or if it was the reference to a father. Either way, Hotch didn’t push it.

They all left Rossi’s, filing into cars to head to work. Hotch explained to Spencer that he was going to be interviewed by Agent Cole again to cover what they didn’t get to the day before and then he would need to be interviewed by the team about Maximillian. While they had talked to him about the other victims he had seen as well as the buyers, they now needed to know about Maximillian’s day to day life.

They were hoping that Spencer knew something about Maximillian’s business and personal life to help them find him.

\--

Garcia and Spencer got set up in the conference room just as they were the day before. However, this time most of the team stayed in the room, working on the other side of the room near the boards. After they learned that Maximillian was still alive, the case turned into a hunt for him, something that the BAU was trained to do. A large amount of evidence and case files were moved from the evidence room back into the conference room.

The team got busy sorting through evidence while Spencer and Garcia sat at the conference room table. After a few minutes, there was a knock at the conference room door and Agent Cole, the Head of the Crimes Against Children Unit, and the female agent from the day before came into the room.

“Hi, Spencer.” She said as she came into the room, but Spencer didn’t react. His eyes were glazed over, and he was blankly staring at the table in front of him.

“Spencer?” Garcia said from next to him, reaching out and touching his knee that was pulled up to his chest.

Spencer flinched and looked around the room as if he were searching for danger. Agent Cole pretended as if nothing happened, “Hi, Spencer. I am Katie, from yesterday and this is Amber, can we sit down and talk again?”

Spencer looked over at Hotch, who was facing him as well. He gave a nod and Spencer smiled, “Yes ma’am.”

The two agents sat down, and Katie pulled out a few files as well as a book. “I heard you like to read.” Spencer nodded his head adamantly. “Good, I got you this.” She pushed the book forward instead of handing it to him.

Spencer looked over at Garcia before he quickly took the book and read the title, ‘The Lost Boy’ by Dave Pelzer. “Wow. Thank you _so_ much! I was just telling Aaron how I read the first book of this series, ‘A Child Called It’.” Katie just grinned and Garcia could see Hotch grinning as well. He clearly told her to get the book for him. Spencer started to flip through the pages before looking up and asking, “Can I keep it? Is this mine?”

“Of course, Spencer,” Katie said back.

“And.. I don’t have to _do_ anything for it?” Spencer asked, holding the book to his chest.

Katie got a pained expression, knowing what he meant, but shook her head no. She let the room sit in silence for a moment before she spoke up again, “Are you ready to get started?”

Spencer nodded and Katie continued the questions from the day before. He told her the rest of the information he knew about the McCarter farm, going into great detail about the people he saw, the names he remembered. He seemed to not be upset about his stay at the farm, even though he explained how he regularly would pass out from lack of water, food, and heat exhaustion and how he was ridiculed for not being manly enough, despite the fact that he was only 15.

Once he was done, Katie said, “Thank you for telling us that. That is going to help us a great deal. Now, I understand that we have one more location before you went with Maximillian, would you like to take a break beforehand?”

Spencer shook his head, “No, thank you. I would rather get it over with so I can read my book.”

Katie smiled and Amber, who was taking notes, flipped her notebook to a clean sheet. “Sounds like a plan. When you are ready.”

Spencer pulled his knees tighter to his chest, pulling his shirt up and tucking it around his legs. “I—There was a lot of p-people. Different groups.. Umm.. I d-don’t know where.. It was d-dark..” Spencer stuttered out. He wasn’t making any sense.

“Hey, it’s okay, Spencer. One thing at a time. Why don’t you tell us what happened there before you tell us who all was there, so we get a better understanding of the situation.” Katie said, trying to calm Spencer down.

He took a deep breath, “Okay.. I.. umm.. I was sold to the place with the shots after the McCarter farm.”

“You are doing great, Spencer. Do you know who bought you?”

Spencer nodded, “Dr. John Nelson. He.. umm.. didn’t come in person, but I know h-he was in charge of my p-purchase. I—I don’t know where the place was.. But I know I was in a c-car.. Uhh, van really.. We drove for.. maybe forty hours total, s-stopping at night. I didn’t get to l-leave the van, but I think we went to New York.. When _he_ b-bought me, the drive was about four hours.. so, New York fits..”

Garcia got up and got Spencer a bottle of water from the side table in the room, handing it to him. Spencer thanked her and took a sip before continuing. “The building was large.. old. Smelt like.. When I was a kid and I had to go to the basement. It would be cold and damp.. Like that.”

Several eyes in the room turned to Spencer when he said he ‘had to go to the basement’. That could mean he just had to get something from the basement.. Or it could mean much worse. No one dared to ask him.

Katie leaned forward, “What happened to you there, Spencer?” She said softly.

Spencer started to itch the crook of his arm through the red cardigan he was wearing. “Basically.. We were lab rats..”

This time the whole team turned to look at him, but he didn’t notice. They had a vague idea of what Spencer meant when he said ‘the place with the shots’ but no one assumed he was experimented on, just drugged.

“Can you explain what that means?” Katie asked.

“We were put into groups.. My group had pain medications, o-opioids… It was hard to learn anything about it, but once I got a glance at the paperwork. I.. I was pretty h-high at the time, but the chemical breakdown looked similar to Dilaudid but.. different.” Spencer stopped for a moment, digging at the inside of his elbow even rougher.

“They used different strands too..” Spencer continued, “They would.. strap us down, i-inject us and then see..” Spencer stopped for a moment, taking another sip of water. “They would test how well the drug worked. Sometimes they would hurt us before the drugs, sometimes after..”

Katie nodded, “You are doing great, Spencer.. Can I ask how they hurt you?”

Spencer looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking, “For my group, they liked to break bones and dislocate joints.. Sometimes it wouldn’t really hurt. The d-drugs worked.. But other times the drugs didn’t do anything.”

Morgan, who had long since stopped working, listened closely to Spencer. Suddenly what the doctor found on Spencer’s x-rays made a lot more sense. They found numerous healed broken bones and damage from repeatedly dislocated joints.

Spencer rubbed his shoulders before adding, “I was there for about 18 months. Every month or two they would stop the drugs without warning and study our dependency and withdrawal symptoms before giving us more… Not everyone survived..”

Spencer and Agent Cole talked about ‘the place with the shots’ for almost two more hours. Spencer went through all of the names he knew of the staff and victims, what the other groups seemed like, and if anyone else seemed to be underage. He started crying when he had to talk about the victims that died but he didn’t stop his explanation until all points were covered.

“…and then _he_ bought me.” Spencer finally finished, sniffing, and wiping his face with his cardigan sleeve. His tears had mostly dried up, but he looked painfully sad. His long hair was frizzing, his pale face was damp and rosy from crying, and his shirt was well stretched from pulling his legs into the material and fidgeting around.

Katie gave a warm smile, “You did fantastic, Spencer. You should be proud of yourself. I just have two more questions before we call it a day, okay?” Spencer nodded. “Okay, you said Maximillian bought you at 17 and a half years old, right?” He shook his head again. “Did Maximillian rap—have sex with you before you turned 18?”

“Yes, ma’am. We had sex right after we got home.” Spencer said and Garcia, who was still sitting next to Spencer, fought to keep her opinions to herself.

Katie let out a small sigh, “Okay. Did he let anyone else _be_ with you before you turned 18?”

“Like, use me? No. _He_ did not let anyone else fuck me until I was there for over a year. _He_ said _he_ wanted to make sure I was well trained, the perfect pet, before he shared me.” Spencer said with a small smile.

Katie stood up, “Thank you, Spencer. We might be back in contact with additional questions, but this will help save a lot of people.” She nodded over to Hotch before leaving, Amber following behind her.

Garcia rubbed Spencer’s back and told him how well he did but Spencer just let himself fall into a dissociation. He had been talking about his trauma, especially a part of it that he had yet to talk about, for hours.

After a few minutes, JJ came over to the table, “Spence?” Spencer still looked dazed but hummed an acknowledgment. “Come sit on the sofa, it will be more comfortable,” JJ said gesturing to the small sofa in the corner of the conference room. Garcia held Spencer’s hand and walked him over to the sofa, where he laid down and curled up right away.

The team continued to work the case, letting Spencer take as much time as he needed before they started asking him questions about Maximillian.

“I think it’s time we took a break for lunch,” Hotch said around an hour later.

Emily closed the file in her hand and stretched, “Sounds like a plan.”

“I will go pick it up, what does everyone want?” JJ said, stretching in her seat.

Morgan looked over at Spencer, about to ask him what he would like to eat, but he noticed Spencer didn’t have the same glazed over, distant look that he had earlier. Now, he looked as if he were studying the evidence board in front of him. Specifically, the photo of Maximillian that was tacked in the corner of the board.

Morgan stood up and silently moved the board to the side, “You okay, kid?”

Spencer didn’t answer him, instead, he stood up and moved to the second board that was behind the first. It held multiple photos of Spencer’s old room. He wrapped his arms tightly around his waist and just stared at the photos.

“Spencer.. Are you okay?” Hotch asked cautiously.

Spencer didn’t answer him, instead, his eyes moved from picture to picture before stopping at a photo of the bedroom section of his old room. His eyes went wide, “Damnit!” Spencer yelled, catching the team off guard. Before he started to whisper to himself, “I can’t believe I forgot it.. I am so stupid.. How did I forget..”

“What did you forget?” Hotch asked, also looking at the photo from a few feet behind him.

“No… I can’t. I am sorry… I didn’t… I am not supposed to… I just need to go back…” Spencer stuttered out, tripping over his own words.

“Hold up, pretty boy. You can’t go back there.” Morgan said and Spencer shook his head roughly.

“No! I need something! Please.” Spencer was starting to panic.

JJ took a few steps closer, “I am sure we can replace whatever it is that you need.”

“No, no, no!” Spencer yelled and JJ stepped back again. The only time the team had seen Spencer be so defiant was when he thought Jack might be in danger and on the video where the man disrespected Spencer’s mom.

Hotch tried to think of what to say, knowing that whatever Spencer left at Maximillian’s must be extremely important to him and that he might turn violent. “Okay, Spencer. It’s okay. We need you to explain what you need from there before we can take you though.”

“No.. I—I wasn’t allowed to have— I d-don’t want to be punished… I just need to go there!” Spencer started to dig his nails into his sides, holding himself tightly.

“You won’t be punished, Polpetto, no matter what it is,” Rossi reassured him.

Spencer looked over at Rossi, “But… I—I was… _He_ doesn’t know I have it.. I broke a rule…”

“Maximillian’s estate has been guarded since you left. He isn’t there and I assure you, he will never know.” Morgan said and Spencer relaxed slightly.

Hotch spoke up next, “Now, is this something that is illegal or unsafe?” Spencer shook his head no and Hotch kept going, “Is this something that can be replaced?”

He shook his head no again, “No… There was only one..”

“Okay.. You need to tell me what it is before we can get it.”

“But…” Spencer stopped, looking around the room as if he was making sure it wasn’t a trick, before continuing, “A photo of my mom..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think! Thank youuu!
> 
> I hope everyone has a nice and safe Thanksgiving tomorrow. 
> 
> I know that Thanksgiving can be rough for many as they do not have loved ones to spend it with, or are unable to spend Thanksgiving with them due to traveling, money, and/or COVID. I also know that many people will have to hide their true selves or deal with hateful family members. I hope you all know that you are not alone and this will pass. My inbox is always open, both email and Tumblr.
> 
> [National Suicide Prevention Lifeline](https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/)


	18. Homophobes and Twizzlers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Homophobic slurs

“A photo of my mom..” Spencer said quietly.

The team was shocked at the fact that this young man in front of them, this human trafficking victim, was able to hide a photo of his dead mom for thirteen years without it being taken from him but they hid their shock well.

The team spent the next half an hour trying to convince Spencer to tell them where the photo was at in his old room so someone could get it, and that he wouldn’t get in trouble if he told them, but he refused to believe it. He wholeheartedly believed that he was going to be punished if he told them anymore.

Hotch had enough. Seeing that they weren’t going to be able to get him to tell them anymore and not being able to move forward, he decided that they would just go to Maximillian’s estate.

Only Morgan and Hotch went to the Maximillian’s estate with Spencer. Everyone in the team wanted to go, to support Spencer while he went back to the place he was imprisoned at for over eight years, but Hotch couldn’t allow it. There was too much work that needed to be done.

The BAU team, as well as Agent Cole’s team, spent most of their energy exploring the list of victims and unsubs that Spencer made. As they believed Maximillian was dead, going into his past, expenses, and day to day activities were not as important, but now the team needed that information to profile what type of person Maximillian was and where he might be going. Plus, they were already a week behind.

Before the three men went to Maximillian’s, they stopped at a gas station to get something for lunch that they could eat on the drive. As Hotch had to use the restroom and Morgan wanted to pick out his own snacks, Spencer had to come inside the gas station with them.

Spencer walked in nervously with his hand tightly holding Morgan’s. It was the first time he was somewhere public that wasn’t the FBI building, a hospital, or Rossi’s neighborhood park. Thankfully, the gas station was somewhat empty.

Hotch looked around, taking a mental note of everyone he saw before nodding to Morgan and heading to the restroom. Morgan nudged Spencer all the way inside, “It’s alright, pretty boy. This will only take a minute.”

Spencer nodded, “Okay.. Can you just.. stay beside me?” he asked, shifting nervously.

Morgan smiled and squeezed Spencer’s hand, “Of course, I am not going anywhere. I want a cup of coffee; would you like some too?”

The thought of coffee cheered Spencer up as he smiled brightly and nodded, “Yes, please.” The two made their way to the coffee station and Morgan grabbed two cups, putting one in front of Spencer, who cocked his head to the side. “I can make my own?” Spencer asked and Morgan nodded.

Morgan watched as Spencer made his own coffee for the first time. He poured a little bit of sugar into the to-go cup before looking up at Morgan as if he were asking if he could have more. Morgan answered the silent question, “Make your coffee however you want, kid.”

Morgan then watched as Spencer put three more spoons of sugar into his cup. He wanted to comment, tell him that he needed to not add so much, but he told him he could make the coffee however he wanted, and he wasn’t going to go back on his word.

The two finished right as Hotch walked over to the coffee station with a premade sandwich in hand. “Aaron! I made my own coffee!” Spencer said, bouncing slightly on his toes.

Hotch couldn’t help but smile, “That is great, Spencer. Why don’t you two go get something to eat and I will watch your coffees for you.”

“Alright, over here Spencer,” Morgan said, gesturing to the candy and snack aisle. Spencer slipped his hand back in Morgan’s, holding on to his whole arm as they went.

Spencer looked amazed at all of the choices. His eyes grew even wider when Morgan told him he could get anything he wanted. Morgan wanted to move down the aisle and grab a small sub and chips, but Spencer seemed to be holding on to him for dear life.

Another person, an older man, came into the aisle as Spencer was looking at all of the colorful candy. Morgan looked up for a moment at the man, who huffed when he saw Morgan and Spencer holding hands, but Spencer didn’t seem to notice. “I haven’t had candy in so long.. I have never heard of most of these.”

“Get whatever looks good, pretty boy,” Morgan said and once he did, the man made a sound of derision.

“That is disgusting.” The man mumbled under his breath.

Morgan tensed up but stayed quiet. It wasn’t worth it. Spencer looked up at the man, “Which one?” he asked innocently, thinking the man was talking about the candy.

Before Morgan could say anything, the man was already going off. “You two! I don’t want to see your faggity bullshit!”

Spencer didn’t seem upset by the man’s yelling or words, but Morgan was pissed, “Excuse me?” he said taking a step forward.

Spencer looked confused though, “Faggity isn’t a real word.. What does it mean?”

The man ignored Morgan. He seemed to be more concerned with how Spencer wasn’t insulted, “Are you an idiot or something? Faggity, like a faggot. Like _you”_

Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the man, who seemed to just be getting angrier at Spencer’s lack of understanding, “A faggot means ‘bundle’. It is an archaic English unit applied to bundles of certain items.. I am in no way a bundle.” Spencer looked at Morgan, “Is this man your friend? Is he confused? Does he need help?”

Morgan fought a laugh. To a stranger, it would have looked like Spencer was just being sarcastic, but Morgan knew that Spencer was just being his innocent self. “No, kid. He is in no way my friend, and he needs help but not the kind we can give him.” He then turned to Spencer, choosing to ignore the man, “What candy do you think you want?”

“When I was eleven I did someone’s senior research paper and he gave me two bags of Twizzlers, they were really good. I think I want that, is that okay?” Spencer said with a hopeful expression, grabbing a bag of Twizzlers and showing them to Morgan.

Morgan smiled; he really didn’t think Spencer was going to be able to pick something himself as he was still so scared to eat different foods. However, he had been warming up to different foods with the help of Rossi’s wide range of cooking. “I think that is a great choice, lets get you some real food too.”

“This is food,” Spencer said confused but Morgan just chuckled and put his hand on Spencer’s back, ushering him down the aisle to where the pre-made meals were.

The man was still standing near them and did not like being ignored. “You can’t just ignore me, you sodomites!” The man yelled.

Morgan’s head whipped back to the man, astounded that this stranger would yell that out in the middle of a gas station just because he was holding Spencer’s hand in order to comfort the boy.

Hotch, who was just entering the aisle holding a to-go tray of their coffee cups, spoke up first, “What did you just say?” His face was dark and stern.

“He called us sodomites,” Spencer answered first. He was completely calm, not looking up from the selection of foods in front of him. “Meaning someone who engages in sodomy. Another word for anal or oral intercourse between human beings. I am a sodomite, so are you.” Spencer looked at Hotch. “The blowjob I gave you makes you a sodomite as well.” Hotch tried not to cringe.

Spencer then looked over at Morgan, “I don’t know your sexual experience, but your physique is quite captivating. I assume that you have engaged in multiple forms of sex, so the name is fitting.” Morgan was a little taken aback by Spencer’s bluntness and yet another compliment on his appearance but kept it to himself.

Spencer then looked at the man, who looked horrified, “At your age, over 90% of males have at least received oral sex so you are most likely a sodomite yourself. If not, I am sure you will find someone willing to suck your cock soon. I would, but I need to go visit my old owner's house.” Spencer then turned back to the shelf and grabbed an apple out of the small fruit bowl the gas station had, “Can I just get an apple? Is that ‘real food’?”

The two agents and the homophobic man just stared at Spencer in shock as he looked over the apple he picked. He was completely oblivious to how what he just said was inappropriate and insulting to the man.

Once the man got over his shock, he clenched his fists together in anger but Hotch took a step forward, pulling his FBI badge out with his free hand. He raised it up to show the man, “I suggest you leave.” He said quietly, somehow making it sound much more terrifying.

The man took a step back, “What th—” He started before he looked over at Morgan’s waist and his eyes went wide as he noticed the gun clipped to Morgan’s belt for the first time. “Uhh.. Yeah, okay.” The man murmured before quickly turning around and leaving.

Spencer didn’t even notice the man leaving, he simply put his apple down and picked up a different one before saying, “This one looks better. Can I have this one?”

Morgan ran his hand over his face, “Spencer, that man—” Morgan started but Hotch shot him a look telling him to drop it. Morgan huffed. He wanted to tell Spencer that that man was being rude, that he shouldn’t have told him that he could give him oral, but he dropped it. Instead, he said, “Yes.. You can have that apple.”

Spencer smiled brightly and held the bag of candy and apple close to his chest. He looked proud of himself for picking his own food.

As the three men moved to the checkout counter and back to the car, Morgan couldn’t help but think about how Spencer wasn’t scared of the homophobic man. Spencer not having the social skills to understand that the man was being insulting made sense, as he spent the last thirteen years of his life in captivity but that was exactly why he should have been scared by that stranger yelling at him.

Then again, Spencer wasn’t scared of the team when they first met, the two rude men at the park, or John Warner, the man that made him drink his urine. He did, however, seem terrified of disobeying Maximillian and terrified of not getting the team’s approval. Then it hit him, _He is only scared of his ‘owners’.._ Morgan thought. He started to think about how that might be a good thing in the long run as Spencer could better acclimate back into society without fear before his thoughts were cut off by Spencer.

Morgan and Spencer were both sitting in the backseat while Hotch drove, carefully eating his sandwich. Spencer tapped Morgan’s thigh and whispered, “Are you sure I can eat these?”

“I promise, here.” Morgan took the bag of candy, opened it up, and handed him one Twizzler.

Spencer took it the candy and just looked at it, “I… I didn’t earn it…” Spencer whispered again.

Morgan caught Hotch’s eyes in the rearview mirror, but Hotch didn’t say anything. He was sure that Spencer thought if he did get in trouble, it would be with Hotch as he was the leader of the team.

“You don’t have to earn things anymore, remember?” Morgan leaned over and took a dramatic bite from the Twizzler he was holding, making Spencer giggle. “Go ahead, your turn.”

Spencer cautiously put the candy to his mouth and took a slow bite. His eyes went wide at the taste and he bounced slightly in his seat, “Wow, Derek! This is really good! Thank you!”

Morgan reached over and ruffled Spencer’s long hair, “I am glad, kid. Eat as much as you want, just don’t make yourself sick.”

Spencer thanked both men again and spent the rest of the car ride drinking his coffee, eating a couple of bites from his apple, slowly eating the candy, and trying to do everything he could not the think about the fact that he was about to have to walk through the doors to his old owner’s home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back :D Thank you all for being so patient and I hope you all had a great holiday. 
> 
> Small chapter as I found it hard to get back into the vibe of this fic. I am working on the next chapter right now though so hopeful it should be soon. 
> 
> Let me know what you all think, ily all :D


	19. Godless Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mention of suicide, rape, torture, murder.

The three men made it to Maximillian’s estate in a little less than an hour. The car ride went easier than most with Spencer but as they got closer to their destination, Spencer got more and more nervous.

By the time the car turned on to the long driveway of the estate, Spencer was shaking like a leaf. He wrapped his arms tight around his waist and leaned even further into Morgan, who tucked his arm around him, “It’s okay, Spencer. Hotch and I are right here, we will be with you the whole time.”

Spencer nodded slightly but didn’t say anything.

Hotch pulled up the driveway and next to a police car that was sitting guard outside of the mansion. The estate was extensive. The house, which looked like an old Virginia plantation home, sat on 32 acres of land. It was nicely maintained as well. The yard was well-groomed while the house looked completely remodeled. It would be quite beautiful if they didn’t know the secrets that those walls held for so many years.

Hotch rolled down the window to the FBI SUV to speak with the police officer. He showed his badge and explained that they needed inside for something. The police officer wrote down Hotch’s information, as he was supposed to, before going up and unlocking the front door for the three men. “You all are good to go. Make sure to find me before you leave so I can lock back up.” The officer said once he walked back to his police car.

“Come on, pretty boy. Let’s get this over with.” Morgan said and helped Spencer out of the car. Hotch came around to walk next to Spencer on the opposite side of Morgan.

Spencer stayed silent. He simply walked with the two agents to the door before stopping. He looked up the stairs to the grand double doors.

He vaguely remembered walking up the same stairs when he was 17, when he was taking to Maximillian’s for the first time. He remembered following every order that Maximillian gave him. He would do anything he said as long as it meant he didn’t have to get the shots. That he didn’t have to get yet another broken bone. He remembered feeling overwhelmingly happy.. that was until Maximillian took him to that cold, dark room for training. Until he— Spencer gasped at an eight-year-old memory.

Hotch and Morgan exchanged looks, “Spencer..” Hotch starts, “It’s not too late. I can run inside and grab the photo for you if you can tell me—” Hotch stopped when Spencer started to roughly shake his head but still didn’t speak.

Hotch and Morgan exchanged looks again, neither man wanted Spencer to have to go back in the house in front of them, but Spencer wasn’t leaving much room for debate.

Morgan moved in front of Spencer, looking him directly in the eyes. “Before we go inside, I want you to remember a few things okay?” Spencer nodded. “First, you can speak freely in there. I know Maximillian didn’t allow you to speak most of the time, but he isn’t in there and you are no longer his, okay?”

“O-okay..” Spencer said quietly, as if he was testing his own voice.

“Second, his rules, they don’t matter anymore. Do you have your guidelines with you?” Morgan asked and Spencer pulled a folded pink piece of paper out of his pocket, lifting it up so Morgan could see. “Very good., just remember those.” Spencer smiled lightly at the praise and put the paperback in his pocket. “Lastly, you will not be punished for anything you do or do not do in there. No punishments at all, for anything, okay?”

“Y-yes, sir. I mean, Derek..” Spencer timidly replied and after Hotch nodded to Morgan, they were heading towards the entrance.

Once the three men walked through the double doors, Spencer put his wrists together in front of him, as if he were handcuffed. The layered bruising from the handcuffs Spencer was forced to wear almost daily was almost completely gone. However, the ones on his neck seemed to be lingering a little longer.

Yellowish, purple marks painted on Spencer’s pale neck was just another reminder that this young man was treated like someone else’s property, forced to wear a collar and follow every order or risk death for over eight years. Now he stood in the doorway of his old prison, trying to fight off old memories, in order to get the only photo of his mother that he had.

They walked further in, past the foyer, and they were met with a beautiful great room. It looked like something out of a magazine with a cathedral ceiling, a grand staircase, immaculate furniture, and a grand piano in the corner. Morgan noticed Spencer look over at the piano and his fingers twitched. There was no doubt in his mind that Spencer was forced to play the piano for entertainment. He wanted to ask Spencer if he did actually play and if he enjoyed it but now wasn’t the time.

Hotch looked back over to Spencer, who was just standing frozen next to the two agents, “Come on Spencer, can you lead the way?”

Spencer’s head was downcast, avoiding anyone’s face. He looked similar to how he looked when he was kneeling in his submissive pose. The only difference was that he was standing, and his arms were relaxed down in front of him, wrists tightly held together by the memory of his old restraints.

“Spencer? You okay?” Morgan asked but Spencer still didn’t move. He moved to see the boy’s eyes and they were glazed over and distant.

Hotch reached out and placed his hand on Spencer’s shoulder, knowing that touch normally snapped him out of his disassociation, but again he didn’t move. He didn’t react at all.

Hotch and Morgan looked at each other, they both knew what this was.

He was awaiting an order.

They all had seen Spencer do this same thing before in the videos with Maximillian. He would stay perfectly still, not react or move a muscle unless ordered too.

“What do we do?” Morgan whispered and Hotch just sighed.

He stood in front of Spencer and said, “Look up at me.” As gentle as he could.

In the blink of an eye, Spencer looked up and made direct eye contact with Hotch. His long, golden curls were in his face, but he didn’t move them. He just stared at Hotch with his devoid expression that made Hotch’s heart hurt.

“Spencer.. Are you listening?” Hotch asked but, he didn’t command, so Spencer didn’t answer. “Maximillian isn’t here. It’s just Derek and me, you’re safe.”

Still nothing.

It was as if a switch had been flipped on Spencer. Just an hour ago he was eating Twizzlers and giggling at Morgan, now he is a shell of himself. He walked through the doors of his old tortures home and all the progress he had made just disappeared.

Morgan moved over and tucked the loose hair back behind Spencer’s ear. He studied his face for a moment before saying, “We might just have to tell him what to do for now, Hotch.”

“I was afraid of that..”

“Hopefully once he has the photo and we are back in the car, driving away from this place, he will snap back..”

Hotch nodded before turning back to Spencer, whose eyes were still locked on him. “Spencer, show us your old room now.”

Without hesitation, Spencer bowed his head back down and started walking up the stairs. He moved his feet awkwardly, as if they were still restrained as well. He shuffled down a long hall, passing several doors before getting to a large metal door that looked similar to a walk-in freezer, except it had a lock on the handle and a place for a padlock higher up.

Spencer started to sink down to a kneel once he reached the door, but Morgan stopped him, “Woah, stand back up, kid.” He said grabbing Spencer’s arm and pulling him up. There was no resistance. He was completely malleable to Morgan’s touch, which made Morgan feel sick. “Can you— I mean, go inside, please.”

Again, Spencer didn’t hesitate, and the three men walked into the room.

While Hotch and Morgan had seen several photographs of Spencer’s old room, nothing could have prepared them for the reality of the room. When Spencer pushed open the door, a strong combination of bleach, blood, and sex hit them, despite the fact that it had been over a week since Spencer had been a prisoner in that room.

The room itself was dark as it had no windows. When Hotch stepped over the threshold, he flipped on one of the light switches, causing a dim overhead light to turn on. He then flipped on the second switch, which caused the room to flood with harsh, overly bright light. Morgan and Hotch both cringed slightly at the light while Spencer didn’t even blink. 

The floor of the room looked as if it was concrete, even though they were on the second floor, while the walls were painted a dark, stone-like color. The room itself looked as if it were split in two, a sex dungeon and a bedroom with a large space in between.

They recognized the space as the spot they would see Spencer kneeling in the videos. It was the spot where Maximillian would often rape Spencer and kill other victims in front of Spencer.

That was also the very spot that Spencer was walking over to. He stood in a small area where the floor looked a little more worn before kneeling, head down and hands up on his lap.

Hotch ran his hand over his mouth, trying to keep his emotions at bay but Morgan could feel tears prick the corners of his own eyes. It was a heartbreaking sight to see Spencer fall right back into the same mindset he was in with Maximillian.

They were trained profilers; they knew why Spencer was doing this. It was out of survival. He had locked himself away in his mind in order to survive everything that Maximillian put him through, leaving only the parts of him that his ‘owner’ wanted. Now that he was back in that same environment, it was only normal to go back to that mindset.

The problem was Maximillian was still on the run. He was out there somewhere and there was a high chance that he wanted Spencer back. While they weren’t going to let that happen, they knew that if it did, Spencer might just go independently without a fight. He would fall right back into doing everything Maximillian wanted.

Morgan cleared his throat to ground himself before speaking, “Spencer, you need to get that photo now.” However, Spencer didn’t move.

Hotch, assuming Morgan didn’t have enough command in his words, said it again, “Get the photo now.”

Spencer’s hands flexed and his face twitched. There was something wrong. Hotch knew what he had to do, even though he didn’t want too. “What is the matter?” He paused for a moment before commanding, “Speak.”

“I do not wish to get in trouble, sir.” Spencer said without looking up.

“We could step out if that—” Hotch started but Morgan cut him off.

“No, we are not leaving him in this room alone,” Morgan said with a bite. “Spencer, we are going to turn around. Once we do, you are to get the photo.”

Spencer didn’t move a muscle, but they knew he heard them, so they went ahead and turned around towards the sex dungeon part of the room. They assumed that the photo would be somewhere on the bedroom part of the room, as the other half seemed to be controlled by Maximillian.

Once Hotch and Morgan turned around, they regretted it. They were stuck facing the worst part of the room.

Items were hooked onto the wall like tools over a tool bench. Everything from paddles to gags to blindfolds to so many different forms of restraints. There were shelves that housed mostly sex toys. Rows of butt plugs, dildos, and other items that even Morgan was unsure about.

They were arranged in order by size, with the smallest being no bigger than the size of a finger and the largest— Morgan had to look away. He couldn’t imagine someone taking something so large, especially Spencer’s thin, fragile-like body.

The furniture on that side of the room was equally horrifying. They could see the standing X-cross that Spencer told them about, along with other leather items that had different angles and restraints. The worst thing, however, was in the corner of the room.

There was a wooden box, large enough to fit a person, with a lock on the outside just. _It could be for storage, there could be something harmless in the box._ Morgan thought to himself, but he knew better. Somehow he just _knew_ that Spencer had been put in that box. Morgan had to put his hand over his mouth to stop himself from throwing up.

Spencer moved as quietly as possible, standing up and going over to his old bed. The frame was aluminum, similar to a metal futon frame. The mattress was also similar to a futon. It was thin and didn’t have springs. The metal frame posts were hollow, making them exceptionally light.

He crouched down near the left post closest to the wall and lifted the corner of the bed a few inches off the ground. He silently removed the end cap off of the metal leg and pushed his long fingers into the frame as far as he could. It took a few seconds before he felt the photo and managed to pull it out. He then recapped the leg and put the bed back down.

Spencer carefully unfolded and looked at the photo, even though it wasn’t what he was ordered to do. He couldn’t stop himself. He _needed_ to see her.

Even with his eidetic memory, the image of his mother in his mind started to waiver. The edges of her smile became blurry and the color of her eyes started to dull. It had been almost a year since he was able to look at the photo. It wasn’t often that there was no risk of being walked in on while holding the photo. It was the only one he had so he would never risk it.

But there she was. The photo was worn, with the ink smeared in sections, water damage in others. The corners were tattered, and it had several crease lines. Spencer didn’t care.

In the photo, his mom was smiling. Her happiness was radiant with her long blonde hair brushed and looking as soft as Spencer remembered. She was outside and had a three-year-old Spencer in her arms. He smiled at the photo before a wave of emotion that he normally could hold back hit him all at once.

He felt like he was stabbed in the heart.

He missed her.

The last memory he had of her was her bloody body below ice-cold bathwater. Wrists were slashed, pills were taken. She had told him that morning how the voices wouldn’t stop. They told her to kill herself. Spencer took care of her as best as an eleven-year-old could. He gave her medicine, made sure she knew it would be okay, before leaving for school.

She was fine.

She was fine until she wasn’t.

The bloodstains never came out of the tub and Spencer locked off the bathroom altogether, leaving only a half bath downstairs for him to wash up in, alone.

Alone in a house that he shared only with the memories of his dead mother and father who abandoned him.

Before Spencer could stop it, the dam broke and he was sobbing. Cries pouring out of him, loud and unyielding.

Morgan and Hotch were beside him in less than a second. “Shhh.. It’s okay, pretty boy. You are safe, you are safe.” Morgan said, pulling Spencer into a hug.

Hotch crouched down and rubbed Spencer’s back. “Talk to us, Spencer. Let us help.”

Spencer held the photo tight against his chest.

It hurt.

He was so sad, so heartbroken over _everything_ that it physically hurt.

The only thing he could do was cry, and cry, and cry.

He could hear Morgan and Hotch trying to calm him down and he tried to focus on their voices, but everything was wrong. He was in that room.

That horrible, God-less room.

His mind was arguing with itself.

Nothing was right.

He felt Hotch and Morgan help him to a stand, and he didn’t fight it. He let them move his body around as much as they needed.

_Anyone can use my body however they see fit._

_I am no one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think :D 
> 
> Thank you!


	20. Sweet and Putrid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is in Spencer's POV. Just a reminder that the italics are his thoughts and the bold italics are memories forcing themselves into his mind.

Spencer wasn’t sure if he was awake or dreaming when he opened his eyes, but he could feel the hint of a smile on his face. He was laying on a sofa in the library with his head in Maximillian’s lap. He was carding his fingers through Spencer’s long hair. His curls had flattened out from being brushed over repeatedly, but they were still as soft as ever and smelled sweet.

Like honeysuckles. Maximillian always used a honeysuckle scented conditioner on Spencer.

Spencer was rarely allowed on the furniture and it was even rarer that Maximillian sat with him and treated him so well. Most of the time it was after being used roughly, the other half was before.

He hadn’t just been used, so he knew it was the latter. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the company. Enjoyed the gentle touch of the well-calloused hands.

It didn’t matter what was about to happen because he knew it was his job, his point in life. He was only alive to serve his owner.

He stole a glance of Maximillian. His face was more relaxed than it usually was. His olive skin was tired, starting to wrinkle more and more as the years passed but his black hair was just as dark as always. Spencer thought about how Maximillian might be handsome. He knew he looked the way that the majority of society would find attractive, but Spencer couldn’t see it.

Instead, he saw the man that hurt him, the man who murdered people shamelessly.

_No.. don’t think like that. He loves you and you love him. This is your purpose, without him you are no one._

**_You serve me and only me. If I tell you to do something, you do it without hesitation. Without me, you are nothing. Without me, you would be dead._ **

Spencer looked away and tried to push away Maximillian’s words.

He numbed his mind once more, sending it away to do something else. It was something he had gotten good at over the years. He could send himself away. Physically he was still there, he could still follow orders, but mentally, he was long gone. He would read or daydream, it didn’t matter as long as he wasn’t there.

He wasn’t there for when Maximillian finally snapped and he suddenly went from brushing his hair, to dragging him by his collar.

He wasn’t there when Maximillian called him ‘bitch boy’ and stripped him out of the dress and panties he had been forced to wear.

He wasn’t there when Maximillian restrained him, moved his body around however he wanted, made him do things that he never thought he would do.

Most importantly, he wasn’t there to scream, to cry, to react.

Maximillian never wanted Spencer to react. He preferred Spencer be silent and still like a doll.

Spencer closed his eyes again but this time when he opened them back up, the touch on his hair was different. The hand was larger, softer. It was also cautious, as if it weren’t sure if it should be touching Spencer or not.

 _That’s not right.. He was never unsure of himself._ Spencer stole another glance at Maximillian, but this time it was Morgan.

_Derek.._

He was in the library, the same spot he was in his dream, but Morgan was the one running his hand through his hair.

Spencer looked up at Morgan, who had yet to notice he was awake.

Morgan’s skin looked soft, comforting. It was a deep chocolate color and he had eyes to match. He was handsome, a handsome that Spencer could see. His body was strong while somehow still providing solace.

Spencer watched as Morgan looked down at him and smiled, his skin creasing around his lips and cheeks, showing the smile lines that he was developing.

“Welcome back, pretty boy,” Morgan said softly. Spencer loved Morgan’s voice as well. It was deep and powerful, but he rarely raised it. He was never tricked by that silky voice. He kept it level and even, saying only what he meant.

As Spencer looked up at Morgan, he felt as if he should get up and kneel. This was Maximillian’s library. If he were to fall asleep while reading, as he never fell asleep while laying on Maximillian’s lap, he was supposed to go straight into a kneel when he woke up. This time, however, he simply didn’t want to. He didn’t feel as if he had to.

So, he didn’t.

He looked at Morgan for a few more seconds before slowly sitting up.

“Easy, Spencer,” Morgan said as he helped him sit up. “You passed out.”

“Are you feeling dizzy?” Hotch asked and Spencer looked over to see him standing next to Maximillian’s desk. He was holding one of the framed photos from his desk.

 _No!_ Spencer thought as he shot up to a stand. _No one is to touch his desk!_ Spencer wanted to scream but he had never spoken in the library before and something felt profoundly wrong about it.

“Spencer? What is it?” Hotch asked but Spencer was unsure of what to do. He couldn’t take the photo from Hotch, he couldn’t speak. His eyes flicked from Hotch to the picture, back to Maximillian’s desk before going back to Hotch. Somehow Hotch understood, “Am I not supposed to be touching this?”

Spencer wished he could yell what he was thinking, _Yes! Put it down!_ But instead, he nodded roughly.

He saw Hotch look down at the photo again. Spencer didn’t have to look to know what the photo was. It was him and Maximillian. Spencer was kneeling as he always did, completely naked except for a thin black collar and a softer pair of thin leather handcuffs. They were his favorite, but Maximillian rarely put them on Spencer as they would most likely break if he tried to break through them, and Maximillian knew this.

Spencer was beside Maximillian’s desk chair. He had a handful of Spencer’s thick hair in his hand and an evil grin on his face.

He remembered seeing the photo for the first time. Maximillian had stepped out of the library for a moment and Spencer was left alone, which happened from time to time. As he got up to pick a new book, the framed photo caught his eye. He didn’t even touch it, but he rested his hand on Maximillian’s desk for a moment. The same moment that Maximillian came back into the room.

**_You worthless bitch! I did not give you permission to touch my desk. How dare you touch what is mine. I should kill you! Fuck you until you are begging for me to give you the mercy of death!_ **

Spencer relaxed the second Hotch put the photo back on Maximillian’s desk.

“Spencer, you know Maximillian isn’t here. He won’t know if we touch his things and even if he didn’t there is nothing he can do about it.” Hotch said firmly.

 _Not true.. He always knew. He always had a way of knowing.._ Spencer thought but he didn’t dare talk back, instead he bowed his head slightly.

Suddenly Spencer remembered why they were there, and he patted his pockets frantically for the photo of his mom. He felt tears already prick the corners of his eyes as he thought he might have lost the photo.

“Pretty boy, hey. Calm down. It’s right here.” Morgan said, taking the photo off of the bookshelf next to them and handing it to Spencer.

 _Derek.. Thank you so much.._ He lifted the photo to look at it. His heart still ached to look at it, but he was so happy to have his mom’s photo again. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if he lost it.

Morgan watched as Spencer relaxed again slightly before asking, “Can I see her?” in a soft tone.

 _No! No one can see that you have the photo!_ His mind screamed at him, but he looked up to meet Morgan’s eyes. They were calm, even. He knew no matter if he showed him or not, Morgan wouldn’t be angry. _Derek is safe. Derek wouldn’t hurt me…_

He held the photo out, and Morgan looked at it without touching it, which Spencer was grateful for. “Your mother is beautiful. She looks just like you, you just have this honey-colored hair.” Morgan reached out and ruffled Spencer’s hair with a warm smile and Spencer felt himself heat up at the praise.

 _Beautiful.. Like me?_ Spencer felt his lips turn up to a smile before he pushed the feeling down. _He doesn’t like when I smile… Calm, no emotion… No that’s not right. He isn’t my owner anymore…_ Spencer sighed and turned to Hotch, offering for him to look at the photo as well.

Hotch took a step closer but kept his distance, “Derek is right, she is beautiful, Spencer.”

 _‘Is’.. They mean ‘was’. She was beautiful._ Spencer pushed the photo to his chest. He wasn’t even sure where her ashes were. Diana Reid had no family, only Spencer, so when William Reid couldn’t be located, the city cremated her body.

Spencer didn’t have a phone for the city to contact and when he went to the morgue, they refused to speak with him because there was not an adult present.

The thought of his mother’s ashes being out there somewhere, or worst, thrown away, brought him to tears.

Morgan tried to calm Spencer down before he even realized he was crying. “Shh, hey. It’s alright, pretty boy. I know you must miss her.”

**_Mom? Mom! It’s Spencer! Are you home? I guess not.. Did she leave the bath running? Mom, are you in here? I am coming in. No.. No, no, no! No! Please! Mom, wake up! Please Mom!! Don’t leave me alone! Please!_ **

Spencer nodded his head roughly, causing several tears to fall off of his cheeks.

Morgan placed his hand on Spencer’s shoulder and Spencer leaned into Morgan’s touch. Morgan then reached up and wiped away his tears with his thumbs. Spencer couldn’t help sighing and closing his eyes as Morgan gently dried his face and tucked his hair back behind his ears.

He found Morgan’s touch the most comforting, even though he wasn’t sure why. It was nothing like Maximillian’s touch.

He used to think that he loved being touched by Maximillian.

He would gently bathe him, get him dressed in beautiful dresses and skirts, and brush his hair out. Sometimes he would give him a kiss when they were alone that was much better than the rough kisses he would give him in front of others. Those owning kisses that made his lips burn and his eyes water.

The gentle never lasted with Maximillian.

**_Did that hurt, pet? I hope so. There is more where that came from._ **

Spencer opened his eyes and was met with Morgan’s radiant smile. “Come on, kid. Let’s go home.”

 _Home._ The thought made him smile. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Rossi’s house, the place that felt more like home than any other place he had lived in for the past 13 years. He wanted to curl into bed with Morgan laying next to him, protecting him.

More than anything he wanted to get out of that house and never come back.

He nodded his head but as he turned, the light from the large window caught his eye. The library was his favorite place in Maximillian’s house and the window was his favorite place to sit in the library. He walked up to the oversized window that looked out to a wooden area of Maximillian’s property.

He loved to watch the trees. The wind flowing through them, the way they would change with each season. He read a book about birds once just so he could know more about the birds that would land in them. He would keep a mental chart of what birds he would see.

One day he saw a White-winged Dove, a rare bird for the area, and he let himself smile while Maximillian was busy on his computer.

He remembered seeing crows often around the vent pipe in the yard.

**_What are you looking at my pet? Ahh is it the crows? They seem to love the smell._ **

Spencer couldn’t speak but he always wondered why crows would be attracted to the smell of what he assumed was a drier or heater vent, but he tried not the dwell on it. It was never good to think about anything Maximillian said or did for long. It only brought horror.

But now, staring out the window with his ~~new owners~~ friends around him, he felt safe thinking about it. He looked at the small pipe, barely visible due to the distance and the rocks surrounding it, and he had to wonder why a vent pipe for the house would be so far from it.

He was familiar with every part of the house. Not that he could go exploring but Maximillian enjoyed dressing Spencer up and parading him around his friends, business partners, and the staff. With a mind like Spencer’s, he could imagine the whole house’s blueprint effortlessly.

The closest thing to that pipe would be the basement, where Maximillian conducted most of his illegal activities. The basement was extensive, added on to the home after Maximillian bought it. It still didn’t seem right though.

 _Crows are naturally warmer than humans and other animals, so they wouldn’t have been going to the pipe for heat. The smell would have had to be food, normally a decaying scent attracts them, such as rotting food or… death. Dead humans…_ Spencer suddenly felt sick and he covered his mouth with his hand.

“Spencer, son. What is it?”

“Kid, are you okay?”

Both Hotch and Morgan asked at the same time as they saw Spencer turn pale and look as if he were about to vomit.

Spencer quickly lowered his hand and looked at the two men through cloudy eyes. He wanted to tell them, ask them to help figure out if the wispy puffs of smoke that he enjoyed watching were laced with the scent of death, but he couldn’t make himself talk.

_Please, order me to speak! I need to know it’s okay._

Hotch and Morgan shared a look, as if they are talking to each other through their eyes. A conversation that only could happen between two friends that had known each other for almost a decade.

Hotch then turned back to Spencer, “Tell us what is going on.. Speak.”

_I love profilers._

Spencer felt wrong speaking in the library, but he was comfortable following orders, “I—I used to sit here at the window,” Spencer started, in a voice barely above a whisper. “a-and I remember watching the smoke… from that pipe.” Spencer turned and pointed out the window at the barely visible aluminum pipe hidden in the trees.

Hotch and Morgan both look before nodding for him to continue. “And.. There would be crows. _He_ once told me that the crows liked the smell of the smoke… I—I didn’t allow myself to think about it… I just liked watching them but now…”

Spencer stopped and Morgan filled in the blank, “Now you think it was something bad.”

Spencer nodded and turned his eyes downcast again.

Hotch’s face turned a deep frown, having realized that crows are commonly called the bird of death. “Where do you think that pipe leads?”

Spencer opened his mouth but shut it right back. _Damnit.._ _I can’t. Order me again, please.._

This time Morgan spoke up, “Speak, please Spencer.”

“The basement. It extends past the house. I… I don’t know where though… I didn’t think it went out that far but…” Spencer paused, having remembered something, “The… The training room. I was never allowed back in the room after training but… There was a door…”

Hotch didn’t need to hear more, “Please take us there.” Spencer didn’t need to hear more either. On command, he turned and left the library with Hotch and Morgan following him. He went down the stairs, through a few hallways until he reached a closed door. Morgan opened it silently and Spencer continued. They went down the stairs to the large gathering room.

Spencer walked through the open area, ignoring Hotch and Morgan’s shocked looks as they saw the stage and multiple chains on the walls for Spencer or a different human trafficking victim to be restrained, straight to a door that was on the far side of the stairs. He stopped in front of it, waiting for someone else to open it. He was not permitted to open doors without being ordered.

Spencer took a moment to numb himself, to disassociate from reality, before Hotch opened the door. His training was a memory he never wanted to think about. It was the week that he lost himself. While his victimization with his previous owners had been horrible, he still had his sense of free-will. A hope somewhere in his mind that he could be freed one day. In one week, Maximillian took that hope, along with his virginity, innocence, and any freewill he had left.

Hotch opened the door and turned on the piercingly bright light.

The training room was somehow even worse than the sex dungeon part of Spencer’s room. Sharp tools and medical supplies were secured to the walls, everything from scalpels to speculums. There was branding equipment in the corner, a metal bathtub, another person-sized box, a medical table with stirrups, and far too many sex toys and restraint systems.

Hotch and Morgan looked physically sick while Spencer’s face was devoid of any emotion yet again. He walked to a large shelf on the far side of the room, letting his body work independently from his mind, and pushed it to the side, revealing both that the shelf had wheels and that there was a door hidden behind it.

Spencer committed himself to thinking about the new book he had received, ‘The Lost Boy’ by Dave Pelzer.

 _‘—I also realized that for some reason I have been Mother’s sole target for her unexplained rage and twisted pleasure. I have no home. I am a member of no one’s family. I know deep inside that I do not now, nor will I ever, deserve any love, attention, or even recognition as a human being. I am a child called ‘It.’—'_ He read in his mind before Morgan’s voice pulled him out. “–encer, Spencer. Are you with us?”

Spencer blinked a few times and looked at Morgan, _please.. I don’t want to be here._

“Spencer, the door is locked by a keypad. I have tried to kick it open, but it seems to be reinforced. Do you know what the combination might be?”

Spencer thought for a moment. _Do I? I don’t remember the keypad being there before. It must be new, since he got me…_ Spencer thought back to the one time he accidentally saw Maximillian entering in the passcode for his laptop.

**_Are you looking at what I am doing, bitch boy? Better fucking not. No one wants to keep a nosy pet._ **

He only saw his fingers on his number pad for a second, but it was enough.

Seeing the realization on Spencer’s face, Hotch said the command he knew he was waiting for, “Speak please.”

“04281999”

Hotch went to enter the number but stopped and looked back at Spencer, “Isn’t that—” Hotch stopped when Spencer was already nodding yes.

Morgan, however, was lost. “Isn’t that what?”

Hotch put the number into the keypad, which made a light click sound as the light turned green and the door unlocked, before he turned to look at Morgan. “It’s the day Maximilian bought Spencer..”

Spencer heard Morgan mumble “shit” under his breath, but he wasn’t sure why. He instead turned his focus to Hotch, who was starting to open the door.

Spencer had a few ideas about what the room might look like knowing Maximilian, so he wasn’t shocked when they walked in. Hotch and Morgan on the other hand were at a loss for words.

The room was small. Several bookshelves with little cubbies lined the wall on one side while what looked like a pizza oven was on the other. It took a moment for the men to that it realize wasn’t an oven, it was a cremation chamber.

“Holy shit…” Morgan said again. It suddenly made sense as to why the crime scene crew couldn’t find any bodies. Maximillian cremated them himself.

Hotch stepped closer to the chamber and pulled down the large door. The smell that admitted from the door was nauseating. It was slightly sweet, but putrid and steaky. Like leather being tanned over a flame mixed with a rancid mayonnaise odor from the burned fat.

Spencer recognized the smell of burned bodies right away as the ‘place with the shots’ would cremate their dead human lab rats as well. He was sure if he was ever allowed outside he would have recognized the scent from the pipe, not that he would have been able to do anything about it, but at least he would have stopped watching the smoke from the pipe for his entertainment.

Spencer felt sick and wrapped his arms around his waist for comfort. Morgan noticed and placed a hand on his back, turning him away from the cremation chamber to face the shelves. “It’s okay, pretty boy. You are safe, you made it.”

Spencer nodded and started to numb his mind again, but something caught his eye. The cubbies in the shelves were numbered.

His eyes passed over some of the cubbies, _03011999, 03131999, 03241999, 04161999, 04281999… that is my number… That is the day I was bought… But…”_ Spencer walked closer to the cubby with his number on it. Inside was a CD case and the tags he was wearing when he was purchased. It didn’t make sense to him, so he looked at the cubbies on either side of his. They each had a CD case inside, one had a name tag bracelet but they both had bags of some gray powder as well— It suddenly hit Spencer.

 _These are their ashes… He filed us all down to numbers and bags of ashes._ He backed up to look at all of the cubbies, there were hundreds, and most of them had bags.

He couldn’t help the tears that started to pour from his eyes as he started to openly sob about all of the victims left to rest in a cubby, IDed by only a date of purchase.

“Spencer, what is it?” Hotch asked but Spencer turned to Morgan.

“Der.. I—I wanna go h-home.. P-please take m-me h-home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all think! 
> 
> I hope everyone is doing well, thank you for the support! :D


	21. Hold Me?

“Spencer, what is it?” Hotch asked but Spencer turned to Morgan.

“Der.. I—I wanna go h-home.. P-please take m-me h-home.”

Morgan didn’t hesitate. He pulled Spencer into a tight hug as he started to openly sob into the crook of his neck. Morgan didn’t understand what had upset Spencer so suddenly, but he held him anyway and whispered soothing words against the top of his head. His eyes darted over to Hotch, who was now looking at the cubbies himself.

Hotch looked into a few, trying not to touch the items as he did not have gloves with him. He barely touched the corner of a bag that was inside one of the cubbies, pulling it up so he could see it better.

Then it hit Hotch too.

His mouth fell slightly open and his eyes went wide, which caught the attention of Morgan, “Hotch, what is it?” He whispered over while still holding Spencer. His voice could barely be heard over Spencer’s cries.

Hotch didn’t say anything. He simply looked back at the bag of ashes, then to the cremation chamber, back to the ashes, and then to Morgan.

No words were needed.

Morgan finally understood that they were looking at hundreds of victims, hundreds of bags of ashes, and hundreds of deaths that were all caused by the same man that kept the sobbing young man in his arms hostage while torturing him relentlessly for eight years.

Suddenly Morgan needed to get Spencer out of that room and out of the house, “Spencer, shh.. let’s go.” Spencer was crying so hard he was starting to hyperventilate. He was clinging to Morgan so tightly that Morgan was sure he was the only thing holding him up. “Spencer, baby. Come on. We need to get you outta here.” Morgan said, not even noticing the pet name that slipped out.

Spencer still didn’t respond. His knees were buckling, and he looked as if he was going to pass out again.

“Can you carry him out? He most likely won’t be able to calm down as long as we are here.” Hotch said, pulling out his cell phone.

Morgan nodded, “Hey, I am going to lift you, wrap your arms and legs around me, okay?”

Spencer nodded his head against Morgan’s chest ever so slightly, which relaxed Morgan. Both because he responded and because Morgan didn’t want to have to move Spencer’s body around without his consent. He had already carried Spencer from his old bedroom to the library without his consent and he didn’t want to have to do it again.

Morgan bent down a little and hoisted Spencer up so his legs wrapped around Morgan’s waist and his arm’s wrapped around Morgan’s neck, like a reverse piggyback hold. Morgan moved his hands cautiously, trying hard to hold Spencer up with his hands on his legs instead of his ass.

Spencer melted into Morgan, barely holding himself up on him but leaving the larger man with his full weight. He rested his head on his chest and closed his eyes, still crying roughly, as Morgan walked them out of the room, through the training room, up the basement stairs, and through the house until they reached the front door.

“We are outside now, pretty boy.” Morgan whispered to Spencer as he carried him to the SUV, which Hotch left unlocked. “I am going to put you in the car now.” He climbed into the backseat of the SUV with Spencer still on him before he lifted Spencer to the seat next to him, but Spencer didn’t want to let go.

Once Morgan fully sat back down from placing Spencer down, Spencer clung right back on him, wrapping his arms around Morgan’s neck again and climbing back on Morgan’s lap while making a small whimper sound.

“Shh.. It’s okay, sweetheart. Can I move you so you are safer for when we start driving?” Morgan asked, this time he noticed the pet name and he mentally cursed himself. The last thing he wanted to do was make Spencer uncomfortable, even though the nickname seemed to relax Spencer slightly.

Morgan ended up shifting Spencer, so he was mostly laying down, but his head and part of his torso were laying in Morgan’s lap and his arms were around his waist. Morgan hummed quietly while running his hand over Spencer’s hair as he watched Hotch stand in front of the SUV while talking on the phone.

By the time Hotch finished his phone call, most likely to the rest of the team, and started talking to the police officer that was guarding the estate, Spencer’s cries had died down and he was almost asleep.

Hotch tried to open the car door as quietly as he could but Spencer still jumped up with a swallowed scream. “It’s just me, Spencer. Don’t worry. We are leaving now.”

Spencer nodded while not making eye contact before laying back down on Morgan, wrapping his arms around him tightly, and burying his face into his shirt and the hard muscles of his stomach. Hotch raised an eyebrow at the position they were in, but he didn’t say anything. He just turned on the SUV and left as quickly as possible.

\--

The car ride was silent, other than the soft sound of Spencer sleeping. Hotch had turned on the radio at some point but no one was really listening to it. Spencer had drifted to sleep shortly after they took off but Hotch and Morgan couldn’t stop thinking about the horrors they had seen in Maximillian’s house.

The fact that it could have been Spencer’s ashes in one of those horrible bags haunted Morgan more than anything else.

Spencer was undoubtedly amazing. Astonishingly smart while naturally beautiful, but Morgan couldn’t help but think about why Maximillian kept Spencer but no one else. Or maybe he had kept someone else at one point, and they messed up somehow and were sold off or killed as well but Spencer was able to stay on Maximillian’s ‘good side’ for over eight years.

Finally, after double-checking that Spencer was still asleep, he said, “Why him?”

Hotch looked up in the rearview mirror, “What do you mean?”

“How did he manage to survive? How did he do it?” Morgan said, looking down at Spencer on his lap.

Hotch was quiet for a moment before saying, “I honestly don’t know.. He does seem to have a natural profiling ability and he is extremely smart… There is just something about him.”

Morgan smiled, still looking down at Spencer, “Yeah, there really is.” He said quietly, almost as if he were thinking out loud.

Hotch raised his eyebrows again. The whole team could see how close Morgan and Spencer were getting but Hotch didn’t think they could all see just how fast Morgan was falling in love with Spencer. He was sure that Morgan didn’t even know yet. But, again, he didn’t say anything. As long as Morgan was being appropriate with Spencer, it wasn’t his place.

\--

When they arrived at Rossi’s, it was already getting dark out, but the rest of the team wasn’t there. Emily and Rossi had to go back to Maximillian’s and help the crime scene crew go over the new evidence as well as try and find any other hidden area that they could have missed the first time. While JJ and Garcia were working on trying to ID the victims with the information they were being sent and still trying to track down Maximillian.

“Spencer, hey. You need to wake up, we are home.” Morgan said while shaking Spencer’s shoulder gently. It was odd to call Rossi’s place ‘home’, but it also felt right. Not because he was living with Rossi but because he was living with Spencer. He hadn’t been back to his apartment in probably a week or more and he was fine with that. Garcia had stopped in his place a few times just to get the mail or switch out the clothes in his go bag but he could do his laundry at Rossi’s, so he wasn’t too concerned.

Spencer stirred slightly, “Home?”

“Yeah, kid. Rossi’s place. Hotch already went inside.” Morgan said, leaving out the fact that he already went inside because he was going to sweep the house to make sure it was safe for Spencer. With Maximillian being alive and the house having been empty all day, even with the alarm system, they were worried that Maximillian would find where Spencer was and would be waiting for him at Rossi’s one day.

Spencer rubbed his sleepy eyes but leaned off of Morgan enough for him to climb out of the car. Before Spencer got out, he held his hand out and Morgan took it with a smile, holding his hand all the way inside and shutting and locking the door behind them.

“We should probably get something to eat, what do you want?” Morgan asked as Spencer slipped his shoes off at the door.

Spencer looked like a dead man walking as he turned around and his eyes were mostly shut again. He just made a small hum noise instead of answering Morgan.

After the painful long day they had, Morgan decided that the best thing for him would probably just be sleep. He turned around the find Hotch and saw him as he walked out of the kitchen with two water bottles in hand. “I think I am just going to get him to bed. He can eat later.”

Hotch took a look at Spencer, “I agree. Here.” Hotch handed him both water bottles as if he already knew Morgan and Spencer were going to go straight to Spencer’s room. “Make sure he drinks some before he sleeps.”

“Thanks, man. You staying the night?” Morgan said, taking the water bottles.

Hotch nodded, “Yeah. I am not sure about the rest of the team, but I am going to make some dinner for everyone though.”

Morgan smirked, “You know how to cook?”

Hotch glared at Morgan for a moment before smiling back, “I think I will order some pizza.”

\--

It didn’t take long to get Spencer to drink some water and get into bed. He was so overly sleepy that once his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. Morgan brushed Spencer’s long hair out of his face, looking at his peaceful expression, before he carefully pulled the photo of Spencer’s mother that was sticking out of Spencer’s pants pocket all the way out and set it on his side table. He then covered him up and went to the dresser where his go-bag was still sitting.

Morgan quickly changed into shorts and a t-shirt before drinking some water himself and laying down next to Spencer. It was still early so he wasn’t sure if he was even going to sleep but he didn’t want to leave Spencer’s side.

After playing on his phone for about 20 minutes, a little whimper came from Spencer. “Shhh, Spencer. You are okay.” Morgan said, moving even closer to Spencer without going over the blanket divider he had made for the bed.

Suddenly Spencer jumped up and looked around the room terrified before his eyes landed on Morgan. Without thinking he threw himself at Morgan, holding him as if his life depended on it.

Morgan just continued to lay down, now with Spencer on his chest, as he soothed over Spencer’s back and hummed to him like he did in the car. After a few minutes, Morgan noticed that Spencer was starting to fall back asleep and he figured that he should go ahead and move him back to his side before he was too asleep.

“Come on,” Morgan started, nudging Spencer gently to get him to go back to his side. “You need to get back on your side, pretty boy.”

Spencer sniffled a few times before saying, “Please..” in a barely audible whisper and not moving off Morgan.

Morgan didn’t understand what Spencer was trying to say though, “Please? Talk to me, Spencer.”

“I—please.. don’t make me go…” Spencer mumbled into his chest. Morgan went to say something, but Spencer kept going, “I’m really scared, Der… Please… C-can you h-hold me?”

Morgan knew he should argue, get Spencer back to his side of the bed, but he couldn’t bear to. Spencer was not only expressing his own needs, something he rarely did, but he was expressing a need for him. He tried to argue with himself that if he denied Spencer now, he might not reach out and say what he needs or wants later but in all honesty, he wanted to hold Spencer just as badly as Spencer wanted to be held.

With a sigh, Morgan gave in. “Okay, just this once.” Morgan said, moving the blanket that divided the bed to the side so Spencer was more comfortable before tucking his blanket firmly around his waist and doing the same with Spencer’s. They might be cuddling but he still didn’t want Spencer to get the wrong idea or feel uncomfortable.

Soon the two drifted off the sleep, breaking Morgan’s rule of no touching in bed, and it was the best night’s sleep they had in weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much, the next chapter is going to progress the story further. I feel like we have had at least 5 chapters of the same day XD Let me know what you all think!
> 
> Also, I started a new fanfic. [Occupational Hazard](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29233557/chapters/71781219). This first-meetings AU with homeless, drug addict, prostitute Spencer. Please check it out :D
> 
> Also, also, this lovely work, [Data Points](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29299536/chapters/71951358), was gifted to me the other day by the lovely [FoggyBlues](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoggyBlues/pseuds/FoggyBlues). Check it out! 


	22. To Hug You, To Hold You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: graphic description of rape of a minor (17).

Morgan woke up the next morning tangled in Spencer Reid. Their arms were wrapped around each other, their legs were slotted together with one of Morgan’s legs between Spencer’s thighs and one of Spencer’s feet hooked around Morgan’s calf. Spencer’s head was pressed under Morgan’s chin, laying on his chest while his unruly long hair was somehow tossed into Morgan’s face.

Morgan had opened his eyes but couldn’t get himself to move. He felt guilty for letting Spencer cuddle with him when he knew that Spencer didn’t fully understand his own bodily autonomy yet but even more so because he was really enjoying laying like this was Spencer. His body was sore from laying in the same position too long, he really had to pee, and he was sure that he could feel a pool of Spencer’s drool on his chest but no part of him wanted to move himself from the young man.

Only a few minutes passed before there was a light knock on the door and Hotch could be heard, “Morgan, Spencer. It’s time to get up.”

Morgan laughed to himself, _he is such a dad._ He thought but instead he just said, “thanks,” just loud enough to be heard outside the room, trying not to wake Spencer up but once he said it, he could feel Spencer jolt against him.

“Spencer? Are you up?” Morgan said, soothing his hand over his back.

Suddenly Spencer pulled back, “I-I am sorry!” He cried out as he peeled himself off Morgan and got down on the floor to a kneel in one movement.

Morgan moved cautiously, getting out of bed and getting down on the floor in front of Spencer as he had done many times before. “Spencer, please look at me.” He said quietly. He wasn’t sure what mindset the young man would be in after going to Maximillian’s and finding the bags of human ashes the day before.

Spencer slowly looked up with tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Please tell me what upset you.” Morgan said, keeping a calm and even tone.

Spencer looked as if he was trying to see if Morgan was lying before he finally spoke, “You.. You had one rule… You said, ‘Okay, kid. I will lay with you, but I want to make it clear that we are not having sex and I will not be touching you or making you touch me in any sexual way, okay?’ you even put a blanket between us but… I crossed it; I broke the rule..”

Morgan was impressed that Spencer remembered what he said his first night at Rossi’s word for word, but he didn’t bring it up. “Listen, you didn’t break any rule,” Morgan said and Spencer’s face relaxed slightly. “You are right that I said that but first off, we didn’t touch each other in a sexual way. I simply held you because you were upset, and you asked me to. If I were uncomfortable or did not want you to touch me, I would have said so because that is what we do, including you. We say when we don’t want to be touched, right?”

Spencer nodded his head slowly, “R-right..” He said, even though Morgan was pretty sure he was only saying that because he knew he was supposed to, not because he actually believed in it.

“And you can always ask any of us, even Hotch and Rossi, to hug you, hold you or hold your hand whenever you feel you need to,” Morgan said.

Spencer seemed to be thinking carefully about what Morgan said, “What.. umm… What about kisses?” Spencer asked, somehow sounding extremely innocent and childlike.

Morgan furrowed his brow, “What about them?”

“If I want a kiss.. C-can I ask you for one?” Spencer asked, worrying on his lip.

Morgan froze as every part of his body was screaming to say yes. _Does he want to kiss me? No.. He doesn’t fully understand the weight of kisses, that’s all._ Morgan took a deep breath, “Kisses are different. They are normally given between people who are in a relationship.”

“Relationship…” Spencer said to himself before his eyes started to well with tears again, “But… I thought you said we are friends…”

It took Morgan a moment to understand what he was trying to say, _friendship is a form of relationship._ “We are friends. You, me, the whole team. We are all friends, but I am not talking about that type of relationship.” Morgan tried to say his words carefully, “Kisses and sex are normally reserved for intimate relationships, such as people who have agreed to date each other.”

Spencer looked at his lap, in thought again, “Oh.. And we aren’t dating?”

“No, kid. We aren’t.”

“But.. Me and _Him_ were dating?” Spencer asked, looking so confused that it hurt Morgan’s heart.

“No, you weren’t. Maximillian was a horrible person who raped and killed people. He wasn’t your friend and you two were not dating. He abused you.” Morgan said as straightforward as he could. He had decided that it would be the easiest on Spencer if he was blunt about his abuse. That way Spencer would not get mixed messages. 

Spencer just nodded and continued to look at his lap before finally saying, “I think I am still confused..”

Morgan smiled, “That is perfectly fine. I will answer any questions you have and the books I asked Hotch about should be in today.” Spencer looked up at the word ‘books’ and Morgan stood up, holding out his hand, “Come on, kid.”

Spencer gave a little smile back, grabbed his hand, and stood up. His hair was wild, partly in his face but he didn’t move it. Spencer rarely touched his own hair other than washing and brushing it out in the morning. Morgan wasn’t sure if that was a trauma-induced action or if Spencer just didn’t think about it, but he gently tucked the hair behind Spencer’s ear. “Let’s get ready for the day, pretty boy.”

\--

The two men got ready for the morning in their own rooms before joining Hotch and Rossi for breakfast. The rest of the team had stopped by for dinner but decided to go to their own houses for the night. The four men ate as Hotch explained to Spencer how the day was going to go.

The team had discovered that the CDs inside the cubbies were actually DVDs featuring clips from the victim's 'training’. While they only watched a few as it was late, it was clear that the videos were the last moments that most of the victims were alive. Of the few they watched; most included the victim’s death. Which seemed to be from prolonged torture or possibly lack of water or food, and some victims were shot or stabbed to death after they angered Maximillian.

Hotch explained that the BAU team, along with Agent Swann’s team, were to go through the evidence and videos with the goal of IDing as many victims as they could that day while some members were going to continue their hunt for Maximillian. Spencer was to hang out in one of the BAU member’s offices, most likely Garcia’s, but Hotch did not want him around any of the evidence unless they needed him to be.

Spencer seemed relieved to not have to deal with any of the evidence, so he happily agreed.

\--

When the four men got to the BAU office, Morgan took Spencer straight to Garcia’s lair. Spencer wrapped his arm around Morgan’s as they walked, which earned a few stares from other FBI agents, but Morgan didn’t mind. He knew no one would dare say something to him about it.

“Baby girl! I got Spencer with me.” Morgan said, knocking on Garcia’s door once before opening it up.

“Woah..” Spencer said as he stepped into the room. Garcia’s computer cave was amazing. At least half a dozen computer screens were lit up around the room. Little flashing toys and knick-knacks were covering a majority of the desk space and upbeat pop music was playing through a speaker in the corner of the room.

Garcia turned around in her chair, “Oh my loves! How are you two this morning?” She said as she got up and walked over to the two.

Spencer was frozen though. The whole room was overwhelming, really for someone who was never around flashing lights or technology. He squeezed Morgan’s hand just a little.

Morgan looked over at him, “Wha—Oh, Momma can you turn the screens and stuff down some.” Morgan said, automatically understanding the issue.

Garcia took account of Spencer’s wide eyes, “Oh! Sorry, sugar. Let me just—” Garcia quickly moved around the room turning off all of the monitors but one, turning off the music, and gathering several toys and throwing them in a drawer in her desk before turning back to face Spencer. “That better, babycakes?”

Spencer looked over at Morgan and whispered, “Am I babycakes?”

Morgan couldn’t help but laughed, “It’s just a nickname. Penelope loves calling people little names like that, is that okay?”

Spencer smiled and nodded his head before turning back to Garcia, who had heard what they said but pretended that she didn’t, “Yes. Thank you.”

“Good! Derek here told me about some books you wanted, and they came early this morning,” Garcia said as she walked over to her desk and picked up a stack of books that looked like mostly textbooks. She sat them down on the right cushion of the little sofa she had in her office. “Why don’t you get reading while we work?”

Spencer’s eyes went wide again at the books, “Can I, Derek? Please?”

“Of course,” Morgan said, and Spencer wasted no time shuffling over to the sofa, grabbing the first book and sitting on the floor in front of the sofa. Morgan and Garcia shared a look. “Spencer, you are allowed to sit on the sofa.”

“Hmm?” Spencer looked up, taking a moment to understand what he said, “Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to mess up Penelope’s furniture.”

“You could never mess it up, sweetie. Even if you did on accident, I wouldn’t care.” Garcia said with a smile and Spencer smiled back before sitting on the sofa, slipping his sandals off, and crossing his legs on the sofa. He opened the book and was quickly lost in the words.

Morgan stood and watched him for a moment before leaving. He was glad that going to Maximillian’s didn’t seem to have a lasting effect. He was already talking, asking questions, and smiling. Morgan couldn’t wrap his mind around just how strong Spencer was. He was impressed by his strength more and more every day.

Morgan made his way to the conference room to join the rest of the team after saying bye to Spencer and Garcia. When he walked in, he could feel the tension in the room. Everyone, except JJ, was sitting in front of a laptop, as well as two agents from Agent Cole’s team.

JJ was working with the rest of Agent Cole’s team to find Maximillian while everyone else had to watch and profile the DVDs from the cubbies.

“Pick a laptop,” Hotch said as Morgan walked in.

Morgan huffed, “Do we really have to watch all of this?”

“Yes,” Hotch said back plainly. “The team uploaded all of the videos yesterday and Garcia is running them through a facial recognition program, but we still need to see what exactly Maximillian is like and profile from it as well as determine the victim’s cause of death.”

Morgan thought for a moment before saying, “Fine… But do we have to watch Spencer’s video?”

Hotch’s face softened and he nodded his head, “I don’t want to either, but his video will be the most informative about Maximillian’s relationship with Spencer. We will be watching other victim’s videos for a little bit before Rossi, Prentiss, you, and I will watch Spencer’s. That way we will already know what he will most likely go through.”

Morgan wasn’t sure what to say so he just nodded and took a seat at one of the laptops. He didn’t want to watch Spencer’s ‘training’. He didn’t want to watch any of these videos really. People’s last moments spend scared and alone while being sexually tortured. Just the thought made him sick, but he had a job to do. If these people had to go through it, then he could at least watch it and get the needed information.

\--

One hour passed before Morgan needed a break. He had watched three victim’s DVDs and he was horrified. The DVDs were edited like the first video he saw of Spencer was. Some parts were fast-forwarded while others were skipped. It was more like a group of clips that Maximillian liked the most.

Morgan took a moment to collect himself before he got up to go check on Spencer. The things Maximillian did to the victims didn’t even seem real. It seemed more like a horror movie. The way Maximillian would smile and laugh at the victim as they cried in pain, the way he would hurt them without a reason, the ways he would hurt them… Morgan felt sick.

He looked around the room and saw he wasn’t alone. Emily’s hand was covering her mouth and tears were in her eyes, but they didn’t dare to fall. Rossi had backed himself away from his laptop as if watching it from a distance would make the horrors better. Hotch had his arms crossed over his chest as if those tightly crossed arms were the only things holding him together.

Morgan stood up and everyone seemed to jump slightly as the noise of his chair pulled them from the torture on their screens.

Hotch paused his video, “You okay, Morgan?”

Morgan nodded, “Yeah, I just need a break. I’m going to go check on the kid.”

“Good idea,” Hotch shut his laptop and stood up. “Let’s all take a break, and we will meet back here in fifteen minutes to watch Spencer’s video.”

“Already?” Emily asked. She also didn’t want to watch Spencer’s video.

“It will be better to get it over with and the relationship between Maximillian and Spencer is important to finding him before he finds Spencer,” Hotch said and Emily just nodded. Watching a video was worth keeping her new friend safe.

\--

Morgan made his way back to Garcia’s computer lair, knocking once before opening the door. “It’s just me.” He said as he opened the door.

Spencer spinning in a desk chair was the first thing he saw before the desk chair stopped and Spencer was throwing himself towards Morgan before falling on the ground.

“You okay, kid?” Morgan said as he walked up to Spencer, who was now on the floor.

Garcia jumped out of her chair, “I told you that you would be dizzy!”

Spencer sat up and giggled, “I wanted to see for myself!” The childish giggle made both Garcia and Morgan smile before Spencer looked up at Morgan, “I missed you! Can we go home now?”

Morgan helped Spencer up, “I missed you too but no, we can’t go home for a while. I thought you were reading your new books.”

“I finished them. Did you know that sex supposedly reduces stress for both partners? I normally find it stressful.” Spencer said, almost as if he were talking to himself as he walked over to his stack of sex health education books that Morgan had Garcia order for him.

Garcia looked as if she were about to cry, “Oh baby…”

“That’s because that was rape, not sex,” Morgan said in a no-nonsense type of way.

Spencer furrowed his brow. He was aware what he went through was rape, he just still struggled with understanding and accepting it. “But… One book said that virginity can only be given away. It’s not taken by rape. That means that I would be a virgin and,” Spencer laughed to himself, “I am nowhere near a virgin.”

Morgan wasn’t sure if he should tell Spencer that he was still a virgin or just agree with him, but thankfully Garcia spoke up first, “Spencer was wondering if there was anything else he could read while he waited, all I have is computer manuals.” Garcia said, gesturing at her bookshelf which was full of only computer manuals and a couple of computer coding books.

“It’s okay! I can just sit quietly until we can go home.” Spencer quickly said, as if he was worried that he was going to get in trouble for wanting to read more.

Morgan ruffled Spencer’s hair, “Don’t worry, we have more for you to read. Do you want to start with David’s or Aaron’s office?”

“I… I think I should ask them if it’s okay first…” Spencer mumbled out after a moment of thinking.

Morgan smiled, “Sure thing. We are on a little break right now so come on.” He held out his hand and Spencer took it right away, letting him lead the way out of the office.

Before they left Spencer looked back at Garcia, “Thank you for the books and letting me spin in the spinny chair, Penelope!”

“Of course, pumpkin!” Garcia yelled back as the two walked out of the door.

Morgan brought Spencer through the bullpen and up the stairs to Hotch’s office, where Rossi and Hotch were talking.

The door was open, and Morgan leaned in, “Hotch, man. I got Spencer with me.”

“Come in,” Hotch said, giving Spencer a smile when he walked through the door, “Hey, Spencer. How are you doing?”

Spencer’s knees buckled slightly as he walked into the room. It was clear that Spencer went to go into his kneeling position but stopped himself. No one mentioned it. “I am well, sir. Thank you for asking. Penelope got me books! Did you know that sex burns off an average of about 100 calories per session while a teaspoon of semen has about five calories, being an average of 3.5 calories per ejaculation?” Spencer raddled off, bouncing slightly on his toes from the excitement of learning new things.

Hotch gave Morgan a look that screamed, _what the hell did you let him read_ , but he didn’t say anything about it. “I am glad you enjoyed your books, Spencer.”

Spencer beamed, “Thank you for allowing me to have them, sir.. I mean Aaron.”

“You are allowed to do whatever you want, law permitting,” Hotch said with a smile back. There was something about Spencer that just made everyone want to smile. Even Rossi was sporting a grin at Spencer.

“Speaking of books,” Morgan started. “Spencer was wondering if he could read the books in one of your offices while he waits.”

Hotch got up and walked over to his bookshelf. “You can read my books, Spencer, but they are mostly legal books and textbooks, I don’t have any fiction books in the office.”

“That sounds perfect! Can I start now?” Spencer asked, already starting to walk over to the bookshelf.

“Of course, feel free to sit on my sofa as well,” Hotch added. “We should probably get back to work,” Hotch said, looking over at Rossi and Morgan.

Morgan sighed, “Yeah.. Spencer, we will be in the conference room if you need anything, or you can go see Garcia and read in her office, okay?” Spencer nodded, already picking out a book and cautiously sitting on the sofa next to the bookshelf. “Oh, and please do not go anywhere else without telling me.”

“Okay, thank you! Have fun working.” Spencer said and all three agents groaned to themselves. They were most certainly not going to have fun.

\--

Hotch asked the two other agents in the room to leave while they watched Spencer’s DVD on the projector screen. He knew that the two agents had also gone through the DVDs they collected from Maximillian’s estate, so this video wasn’t going to be anything new to them, but he still felt the need to protect this horrible moment in Spencer’s life from the public eye.

Everyone moved to a seat around the conference table as Hotch started the DVD, “I know this will be hard to watch but let’s focus on their interactions, how Maximillian responds to Spencer that might be different than how he interacted with the other victims.” Hotch said, but it didn’t make anyone feel better.

The video started the same way the other videos had. Spencer was sitting on the edge of the medical table in the training room, completely naked. His arms were handcuffed behind his back and his 17-year-old face looked terrified.

He looked impossibly young and it made Morgan want to turn off the video right then. His face was rounder, softer. He looked all around smaller as well, no more than 5 foot, 8 inches tall and while his hips and shoulders were more narrow than they are now, he had a little more weight around his center as growing children and teens normally do.

His legs were crossed tightly, in some sort of last attempt to hide his nudity. At least they were until Maximillian walked onto the screen. He went straight for Spencer, ripping his legs apart and shamelessly looking over every inch of him.

_“Not bad..”_ Maximillian’s voice said through the speaker and Morgan clenched his fists. _“You have some growing up to do but you will make a good pet. Right?”_

Spencer was visibly shaking, _“Y-y-yes, s-sir..”_ Once the words left Spencer’s mouth, Maximillian smacked Spencer in the face causing him to cry out but didn’t give him a reason.

Maximillian gave Spencer a hard push down, _“Lay down, bitch boy.”_ He said and Spencer fell back with the push, contorting his back awkwardly as his hands were handcuffed behind him. Maximillian started running his hands over Spencer’s torso, _“Virgin, huh? It’s been a while since I have had one of those.”_ Maximillian said as he grabbed one of Spencer’s nipples, twisting it roughly.

Spencer cried out in pain and Maximillian smacked him again, but this time he smacked him directly on his exposed genitals. When Spencer screamed again, Maximillian smacked his genitals again. This went on six more times before Spencer didn’t make a sound.

Morgan could feel himself shaking, both with anger and deep sadness for Spencer. Maximillian wasn’t even telling Spencer what he wanted or why he was being hit, just like he had done in the other victim’s videos. They knew the rules Spencer was given and one of the first was that he was not allowed to speak or make noise unless told. It was as if Maximillian had put the rules in place and just didn’t tell the victims.

Maximillian’s voice through the speakers got Morgan’s attention back. _“I wanted to wait before fucking you but,”_ Maximillian forcefully lifted and spread Spencer’s legs. _“I want in that virgin hole now.”_

Tears ran down Spencer’s face as he started to thrash around on the table, trying to get out of Maximillian’s grasp. _“P-please, don’t!_

Another smack to Spencer’s genitals and sobs started coming from the young man. Maximillian was too busy undoing his own pants to punish Spencer for the cries. He grabbed a bottle of lube that was nearby and rubbed some on himself before pulling Spencer’s legs back apart and shoving himself in Spencer’s lithe body.

They had all seen videos of Spencer being raped, being ordered around, but this was different. Spencer wasn’t silent and still like he was in the other videos.

He hadn’t been properly trained yet..

Blood-curdling screams could be heard through the speakers as Maximillian brutally raped Spencer. His small body thrashed around as he fought against his handcuffs. His legs kicked as much as they could in Maximillian’s grasp, not giving up the fight until Maximillian was done, leaving him bleeding with semen leaking out of his abused body.

Maximillian pulled his pants back on, fastening them before he suddenly grabbed Spencer by his much shorter hair and pulled him towards the box in the corner of the room, all but throwing him in. He looked down at Spencer before shutting the lid, “ _You worthless idiot. I thought you would be smarter than the rest.”_ He said before spitting on Spencer, slamming the lid shut and locking it.

The video then cut to a new clip, but someone paused the video, causing the screen to go black, “I think we need a minute.”

It was Hotch but Morgan didn’t move to look at him, or anyone else.

Tears were making their way to his cheeks and all he wanted to do was run to Hotch’s office where Spencer was and hold him tight, never letting him go.

“Morgan.. Are you okay?” Hotch asked, walking closer to him to see his face.

Morgan looked up at Hotch, seeing that he was near tears as well, he let himself feel what he was fighting. “It’s not fair, man! How could he have done that to him?” Morgan yelled, wiping the tears off his cheeks roughly with the back of his hand.

“I don’t know..”

“Spencer is the gentlest, sweetest person I have ever met, what kinda monster does this? He was only 17!” Morgan yelled out. Hotch went to say something but Morgan kept going, “And this is just the first clip! How—”

Morgan was cut off by a sound at the door, a light knock. “Derek? Are you okay? You sound upset.” Spencer said through the closed door.

Morgan all but ran to the door, opening it to reveal Spencer, his head cocked to the side the way he does when he is confused.

Spencer looked at Morgan and frowned, “Oh, you are sad..” He said before wiping Morgan’s tear tracks away with his delicate fingers. “Is there anything I can do?”

If it could have, Morgan’s heart would have broken all over again for this young man. He has so much to deal with, so much confusion and trauma but he is more worried about everyone else and how they feel. “Can I get a hug?” Morgan asked in almost a whisper. If he weren’t so upset, he would be embarrassed about crying and asking for a hug, but that didn’t matter now.

Spencer smiled, “You can always ask for me to hug you, hold you or hold your hand whenever you feel you need to.” He said, paraphrasing what Morgan had told him that morning before wrapping his arms around Morgan’s neck and holding him tightly.

Morgan hugged him back and prayed he would never have to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried not to make that too graphic so I hope it wasn't too bad. 
> 
> Let me know what you all think! Stay safe!


	23. Broken In and Trained

After a minute or two of hugging, Morgan had calmed down and reluctantly pulled from Spencer. “Thanks, pretty boy,” Morgan said with a light smile.

Spencer smiled back and looked around the room at the rest of the team, taking into account their sad faces as well. “What are you all doing?”

Hotch spoke up first, “Just reviewing some evidence, Spencer. Why don’t you head back to my—”

Spencer cut Hotch off, “You are watching my video, aren’t you?” He asked, surprising the team at the leap he made.

The team didn’t want to lie to him, but they felt as if they were violating his privacy by admitting that they were watching one of the worst times of his life.

The silence answered for him, and he said, “Don’t.”

“Don’t what, kid?” Morgan asked, still standing close to him.

Spencer looked at Morgan, “Don’t watch it, please.”

“Spencer..” Hotch started, “We have to watch it in order to help catch Maximillian.”

Spencer wrapped his arms tightly around himself, seemingly in thought before saying, “You all don’t…”

“What do you mean?” Hotch asked back.

“I—I don’t…” Spencer started but stopped, still feeling uneasy about speaking freely.

Morgan reached forward and grabbed Spencer’s hand. “It’s okay. You won’t get in trouble.” He said quietly.

Spencer squeezed Morgan’s hand lightly, “O-okay.. I just… I don’t want Derek to watch..” He said to Hotch.

Hotch hid the shock he was feeling well. Spencer had no sense of modesty and talked about his trauma to Morgan the most, so not wanting Morgan to watch the video didn’t make much sense. “Why don’t you want him to watch?”

“I d-don’t know… I—I just don’t… Please…” Spencer stuttered out. He sounded like he was seconds away from crying.

Hotch looked around to Rossi and Emily before looking up at Morgan. They were all just as confused as him, but he let it go. While he felt Morgan should watch the video, as he was an expert in obsessional crimes, he couldn’t say no to Spencer finally voicing what he wanted.

“It’s okay, Spencer.” Hotch said before turning to Morgan, “Why don’t you take your laptop and work in my office while Spencer reads?”

Before Morgan could agree Spencer smiled wide, “Thank you so much, sir!” He said, overly excited. Once again his knees buckled as if he were about to drop to kneel before Hotch, but he stopped himself. Hotch didn’t miss the look of confusion that flashed onto Spencer’s face as he internally struggled with his old rules.

Morgan moved to grab the laptop he was working on and Hotch walked up to Spencer, resting his hand on his shoulder, and giving him a warm smile. “You did a great job telling us what you wanted, Spencer.”

Spencer couldn’t contain himself and he wrapped his arms around the older man’s neck, hugging him tightly. Hotch hugged back with the same force. He wanted to think that it was just for Spencer, giving him acceptance that what he was doing was okay, but he knew it was for himself too.

Hotch prided himself on being stoic and detached from the horrible cases he had to deal with daily, but just like Morgan, he had grown attached to the young man in his arms. His attachment wasn’t like Morgan’s though. He wanted to protect Spencer like he did his son, Jack.

After a moment, Hotch pulled from the hug. “Are you sure this is okay?” Spencer whispered to him for some reason, “I don’t want to keep Derek from his work and get him in trouble because of me…”

Hotch tucked a strand of Spencer’s hair back behind his ear, “I’m sure Spencer. He can work on the other videos in my office, but do not watch them with him, okay?”

“Yes, sir. I won’t. Thank you.” Spencer said back quickly before heading back to Hotch’s office with Morgan only a few feet behind him.

Morgan set up behind Hotch’s desk while Spencer relaxed back into his spot on the sofa. He pulled his legs up on the sofa and picked up a thick law textbook, balancing it on his crossed legs. A smile formed on his face as his finger ran down the pages before flipping it.

Morgan took a minute before playing the next video to watch Spencer. He was sure that he had never seen Spencer read so fast. He had watched Spencer read in Rossi’s library enough times to know his reading speed. It was always fast, but this was even faster.

“Spencer?”

“Mmm?” Spencer hummed, picking his head up from his book.

“Are you reading faster than normal?” Morgan asked even though the question seemed odd now that he was asking it.

Spencer nodded, “Yes. Is that okay?”

 _Why wouldn’t it be?_ Morgan thought to himself. “Of course, read as fast or slow as you want.. Do you sometimes read slower on purpose?”

Spencer nodded again, “Yes, _His_ library only had so many books. _He_ got new ones every now and then but if I read too fast I would run out and have to start rereading them, so I lowered my reading speed to about 10,000 words per minute.. I figured I wouldn’t get many more chances at being in Aaron’s office, so I didn’t think I needed to slow down here.. Right?”

Morgan was once again speechless, both at the fact that the incredibly fast reading he had seen Spencer do at Rossi’s was just half of what he was capable of and because Spencer assumed Rossi’s library was like Maximillian’s and that was all the books he was allowed. “Spencer, when we said you could read as much as you wanted, we meant it. You can read every book in Rossi’s library and we will get you more, take you to the library, anything you need, okay?”

Spencer’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Yes, pretty boy,” Morgan said before looking back at his laptop. A video thumbnail of a young man sitting on the same medical table that Spencer was on in his video shined back at him and the question Morgan had been thinking spilled out of his mouth, “Why didn’t you want me to see your video?”

The smile fell off Spencer’s face, “I… I just d-don’t want you to s-see me like that…”

“But.. Why just me?” Morgan pushed.

Tears started to form in Spencer’s eyes as he looked down at his book, not reading it but not wanting to look up at Morgan. “P-please.. I just… I u-used to be different… I know that. I c-changed that first week with _him_ and I d-don’t want you to see… I don’t know… I j-just care what you think the most… I c-can’t explain it… Is that okay?”

Morgan stood up and crossed the room, kneeling in front of the seat Spencer was sitting at. Spencer looked down at him, mouth slightly gapped. Morgan reached up and traced Spencer’s prominent jaw with his thumb before saying, “It’s more than okay,” and pulling Spencer into yet another hug.

\--

Meanwhile in the conference room Hotch, Rossi, and Emily were wishing it were them that Spencer chose to not watch the video. There was not a dry eye among them as they watched Spencer being tortured, degraded, and raped, over and over again.

Not the mention, scream. He screamed, cried, bucked, begged, anything he could do to try and get Maximillian to stop.

Maximillian never stopped.

The clips would skip time and they knew they were missing a large amount of the young man’s torture as he would come back on screen with new injuries almost every time.

Over an hour passed and they were still staring at the screen in horror. No one spoke a word and they didn’t take a break. So far this was the longest video they had seen, and they knew they were barely halfway through.

The worst of the clips was the branding. Spencer’s legs were strapped down tightly to the medical table while his hands were put in handcuffs and were chained to a hook above his head, causing him to sit upright with no slack to move.

Maximillian was over by the branding equipment, heating the metal branding rod until it was glowing orange. He held it up and walked over to Spencer, whose eyes went wide as he realized what was about to happen. _“No, no, no, please sir! Please, no!”_ He begged but Maximillian just ignored his cries.

 _“Right or left?”_ He asked but Spencer kept begging, shaking, and fighting to get out of his restraints. _“No preference I see,”_ Maximillian said with a dark grin on his face before grabbing Spencer’s right foot and mercilessly pressing the hot brand into Spencer’s foot.

Spencer’s screams bounced around the small conference room.

Hotch heard Emily gag and turn her head while Rossi let out a quiet curse and covered his mouth with his hand.

Spencer in the video continued to scream until he suddenly stopped, having passed out. His limp body dangled by his arms as Maximillian finished what he was doing. He pulled the branding rod back and tossed it in the direction of the branding equipment. Maximillian smiled at his work before looking up at Spencer.

To everyone’s surprise, he walked up to Spencer’s unconscious body and kissed him on the head. _“I hope you get better, pet, or I’m going to have to kill you like the rest.”_ Then the clip cut straight to a new one.

From the videos the team had seen so far, Maximillian had yet to show any affection for any of his victims. This showed the team that Maximillian felt something for Spencer before he passed whatever training he was supposed to do.

From what they could tell, the rules Spencer told the team he had were the same rules that Maximillian expected his victims to follow, but he never told them the rules. It was as if he wanted the victims to figure it out for themselves.

A few short clips went by before there was one that was slightly different. It started the same way, Maximillian doing his worst to Spencer, yelling, and berating him. Every time Spencer reacted in some way; he was hurt worse. Soon, blood was dripping from his mouth again and it seemed as if this clip was going to end with Spencer being physically and sexually abused until he passed out, but something changed on Spencer’s face.

His expression went blank.

For a moment Hotch thought he passed out but when Maximillian spit on his face, he flinched ever so slightly. Maximillian could be heard making a hum sound as he noticed Spencer’s change as well. He delivered a punch to Spencer’s stomach and Spencer tensed but tried to stay as still and silent as possible.

Maximillian smiled, but not his dark grin. It was a smile of admiration. Spencer had realized that Maximillian didn’t want him to do anything but take what he gave while being completely still, so he willed himself to do just that.

The Spencer that was fighting and screaming never came back. The last few clips had the Spencer that they first met. The one that followed orders without question or hesitation. The one that was silent unless told to speak. The one that had been broken in, trained.

The change in the 17-year-old Spencer on the screen was heartbreaking.

The last minute of the DVD was Spencer kneeling before Maximillian as Maximillian bent down and kissed his head. _“You should be proud, bitch boy. No one has ever made it this far. I think I will keep you for a bit. Good work, my pet.”_

Tears clouded Spencer’s eyes, but a small smile flashed on his heavily bruised face as he realized he got to live just a little bit longer.

The room was painfully quiet when the video ended, and the DVD screensaver came on. They watched the DVD logo bounce side to side, but no one spoke. What would they even say?

\--

That night, after all of the horrors they witnessed that day, the whole team went to Rossi’s for dinner. They sat around and listened to Spencer ramble on about the books he read. He talked about his sex education books to the law textbooks and no one dared to stop him.

That night the whole team stayed over, sleeping on the sofas in Rossi’s living room again, trying to be as close as they could to the young man that went through Hell and came back.

The young man that tried to save people from being murdered but had to watch many of them die.

The young man that still had enough hope and joy to smile and giggle at the little things in life, warming the hearts around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels weird posting a chapter before midnight but here we are. Fun fact, I started writing fanfics almost exactly a year ago today. I have no idea what I would be doing if I didn't start and I didn't have everyone's support, so thank you! :D 
> 
> Let me know what you think! :D

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: <https://tobias-hankel.tumblr.com/>
> 
> Email: damn.tobias.hankel@gmail.com

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Cat found her prey.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27599768) by [Bubblegum_b1tchhh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubblegum_b1tchhh/pseuds/Bubblegum_b1tchhh)




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